Dallas Cowboys: Was the Mike McCarthy fiasco done on purpose?

It has been a while since the Dallas Cowboys have had to defend a road win but that is exactly where they find themselves after Week 2. Mike McCarthy has been ridiculed this week for his clock management decisions at the end of the Los Angeles road win.

I understand if you’re confused by McCarthy’s excuse at his post-game press conference when he blamed the mismanagement on a clock going out in the stadium. He went even further to say that offensive coordinator Kellen Moore had his clock blocked by a cameraman.

Public consensus probably thinks that those excuses are lies and maybe we can get a recording of his view to verify but it was interesting to hear McCarthy say that he thought the Chargers were going to take a timeout. If that is the case, then we all probably owe Mike McCarthy an apology. Let me explain.

Mike McCarthy did his part for a clutch Week 2 Dallas Cowboys win

It was first and ten at the Los Angeles 45 yard line. A field goal attempt here would be around a 62-yard attempt. Prescott is in the shotgun with only wideout CeeDee Lamb to his left. Receiver Cedrick Wilson motions over from the right side of the formations to Dak’s left then runs an out route for about a four-yard gain.

Wilson runs out of bounds and stops the clock with 33 seconds remaining. You can clearly hear CBS announcer and former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo say that the Chargers are in no man’s land. Tough call for a rookie head coach with three timeouts in his pocket. He was probably referring to the Cowboys being right on the cusp of field goal range. The field goal attempt would be around 59 yards at this spot.

On second and six, the Cowboys ran a jet sweep to the right with Tony Pollard as the ball carrier. Pollard averaged 8.3 yards a carry in this game so I understand the coaching staff in trying to move the ball without the risk of throwing it. This has happened before but a sack on Prescott probably takes you out of at least thinking about kicking the field goal.

If Pollard gets the first down, there is no question McCarthy calls a timeout. Instead, Pollard gains three yards and is at the final spot for the game-winning field goal of 56 yards. That is where the confusion starts. When Pollard gets tackled, there are about 28 or 29 seconds remaining.

Los Angeles has all three of their timeouts while Dallas had one left. They burned one a couple of plays earlier due to the Amari Cooper injury. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley probably wanted Dallas to force their hand but I heard McCarthy say in a press conference that he thought Los Angeles would take a timeout. This is likely that moment.

If the Chargers take a timeout there, it gives the Cowboys time to get a play they like. Staley opted to stand pat and the clock continues to run. Before I get to the rest of this scenario, just take a stroll down memory lane and think about how many times Dak Prescott has led his team to take the lead late in the fourth quarter but it ends up being too much time for the opponent. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is a great example of this but this scenario literally just happened to Dallas last week in Tampa.

I think McCarthy wanted to waste as much time as possible and schooled this rookie coach without giving away his real intentions. Could the confused looks on the sidelines have been a ruse? You see, Staley got his first NFL gig as an outside linebackers coach back in 2017 and learned from current Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio in Chicago. After three seasons in Chicago, he got the Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator job last season.

The Rams had one of the best defense’s in the NFL last season and that was enough for the Chargers to come calling. Just for reference, Kellen Moore has been coaching with the Cowboys the exact same amount of time Staley has been in the NFL.

Staley has probably been so busy learning and adapting to NFL offense’s that he has had a limited amount of time to form his own identity. It took former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett a while to learn the nuances of being the head man.

Now, the clock is ticking and this is the point where the supposed clock fiasco is happening. The Cowboys could call a timeout but I am not sure that is the correct call. If Dallas calls timeout with 28 or 29 seconds remaining, they huddle up and get a play call they all like.

What happens if Dallas runs a pass play and it falls incomplete? It is fourth down with about 20 seconds left. After last week, I’m not sure anyone outside of the organization really knows if kicker Greg Zuerlein can make that kick. Any kick takes off about 4 seconds but that still leaves 16 seconds and three timeouts for Los Angeles.

If Zuerlein misses that kick, the Los Angeles Chargers are about 22 yards from having the exact same kick on the opposite side of the stadium. Possible as they have all three of their timeouts remaining.

If McCarthy is getting this much heat for a win I can only imagine what the headlines would have read if that scenario were to have happened. In my head, I like to think that Coach McCarthy probably had a little chuckle to himself thinking what he was doing was protecting his team from losing on a last-second field goal and yet is getting destroyed for a win.

I think it is possible the Cowboys did this at the end on purpose. I wouldn’t put it past them as last season Cowboys fans around the nation tuned in to what they thought was a Cowboys scrimmage only to hear announcers beat around the bush on how practice was going. It may not be aesthetically pleasing all the time but sometimes you just have to enjoy the win no matter the circumstance. Week 2 is over and time to move on to Week 3.