Dallas Cowboys: Did Mike McCarthy get bailed out again?

This past weekend’s games probably had you wondering if the Dallas Cowboys will ever get to a point where they are competing for a championship. If you sat there and dwelled on that point for more than a second, then I invite you down this rabbit hole.

Mike McCarthy’s tenure in Green Bay looked like he was going to be there longer than he was until the rift with quarterback Aaron Rodgers took a turn for the worst. Winning usually cures all but one bad season after years of winning killed the McCarthy era in Green Bay.

Many in Dallas were just happy to rid themselves of Jason Garrett that they welcomed McCarthy with open arms. Forget the fact that the noise coming out of Green Bay was that McCarthy wasted Rodgers’ career by only winning one title.

I also want you to forget that Aaron Rodgers reportedly believed that McCarthy had a very low football IQ. That is certainly not an ideal endorsement for someone who is looking to become the only head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with two different teams.

So why do I bring this up, I am one of those people who think that Aaron Rodgers just bailed Mike McCarthy out again. Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur is a 41-year-old head coach that was an offensive coordinator for two years on two different teams before he landed the head gig in Green Bay.

Before that, he was the quarterback’s coach in Washington for four-season and was an offensive quality control guy for the Houston Texans before that.

He has now twice taken Aaron Rodgers and company to the NFC Championship game, albeit losing both games. If LaFleur had made it to the Super Bowl in either of those years, you better believe the Mike McCarthy bashing would rear it’s ugly head again.

Now that Aaron Rodgers will be sitting at home watching the Super Bowl like the rest of us, the real question now has to be asked.

Did Mike McCarthy win in Green Bay despite Aaron Rodgers or did Rodgers waste his career by not pushing to get rid of McCarthy earlier?

It is like that old adage, “what came first, the chicken or the egg?”. Perhaps we will only know if the Dallas Cowboys have success under McCarthy. Either way, having a first-time head coach basically take the Packers to back to back NFC Championship games with a roster mostly constructed by McCarthy is alarming.

It also makes me wonder if it was McCarthy who kept that team afloat despite Rodgers’ arrogant attitude towards the rest of his teammates? The biggest question is what type of coach do the Dallas Cowboys have?

I still cannot pinpoint what Mike McCarthy the Dallas Cowboys head coach really is. McCarthy says he wants to put talented players in a position to succeed and not fit the scheme but his defense was exactly the opposite until it was too late.

His use of analytics was supposed to allow the Cowboys to gamble more often but his gamble, like the one on thanksgiving day, was a colossal mistake that raised a red flag on his analytical takes.

I always hear the Dallas Cowboys front office talk about McCarthy and the one constant said about him is that he is a “football guy” or the “right head guy” for the Dallas job. Mentions about his analytic team or his football IQ are rarely brought up.

It makes me feel like the Dallas Cowboys are riding with McCarthy based on a feel more than anything else. “Flying by the seat of your pants” has never felt more appropriate than it does today.

Next season will no doubt shed some light on McCarthy. If this team can avoid injuries and have success in the playoffs, McCarthy would probably shake most of the Green Bay stench off of him. If not, keep an eye on Kellen Moore moving forward as the next head coach in Dallas.

The NFL is a copycat league. Bringing in a youngster after McCarthy looks like a safe bet if the Dallas Cowboys falter next season.