DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - For the second straight week, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was criticized for his clock management, but his boss doesn't appear to be all that concerned about it.
“Other teams have issues with clock management. That’s part of the game," Jones said Tuesday on Shan and RJ on 105.3 The Fan. "Let's cut (McCarthy) some slack. We were critical of (Jason) Garrett when he was here. Don’t you think that goes with the territory? That's my point. I know firsthand Mike's capabilities and I’m not a bit concerned about his ability to manage a tight situation.”
The issue at hand occurred with 1:51 left in the first half with 3rd and 24 coming up for the Eagles from their own 32-yard line. McCarthy had two timeouts in his back pocket but elected to not use one that down, nor on the following 4th and 5 down with just under a minute to go in the half.
The Eagles went on to punt it back to the Cowboys with 20 seconds left in the half and Dak Prescott took a knee on the ensuing play to run out the final seconds with Dallas leading 20-7.
McCarthy's decision to not call a timeout drew widespread criticism from the media and the NFL community, including Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg on the broadcast on 105.3 The Fan and Peyton and Eli Manning on last night's 'Manning Cast' broadcast.
McCarthy received a heavy dose of criticism for his clock management on the final drive of the Cowboys' 20-17 Week 2 win over the Chargers. Luckily for McCarthy, his kicker Greg Zuerlein bailed him out when he made a game-winning 56-yard field as time expired.
McCarthy went on to blame the blunder on a clock disappearing from the scoreboard he was watching.
“I’ve never had a clock go off the board on me like that. The second down, we were trying to chip away and just get a shorter field goal. So we were going to attempt a third-down play then kick it on fourth," he said.
After Monday's game, McCarthy didn't make any excuses when he said he was content with their 13-point lead and didn't want to take any chances, so he elected to not use any of his timeouts.
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