The Dallas Cowboys were technically eliminated from the playoffs the moment Dak Prescott was ruled out for the rest of the season. That didn't become official until hours before the team kicked off on Sunday Night Football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With Dallas having nothing to play for and the Bucs looking to tighten their grip on the NFC South, it wasn't a surprise the entire NBC pregame show picked Tampa Bay to win. Seemingly everyone expected Mike McCarthy's group to lie down.
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They did the exact opposite and put it to the Buccaneers. Their lead grew as big as 20-7 late in the first half and they held on to win 26-24 after a fourth quarter comeback from Baker Mayfield fell just short.
The Cowboys have now won four of their last five games. They could easily be riding a five-game winning streak if they didn't choke late against the Bengals. While nothing is set in stone, an uncomfortable McCarthy reality has firmly settled in amongst fans.
Mike McCarthy closer to returning in 2025 after Cowboys beat Buccaneers on SNF
sheesh, @JourdanJD 😬
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 23, 2024
📺: #TBvsDAL on NBC
📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/LvklCbYJ1e pic.twitter.com/hnxjztAG6m
The jury is still out on McCarthy's future, but this win only increases his odds of returning as head coach next season.
McCarthy obviously has his flaws, but the Cowboys played as hard Sunday night as they have all season despite being eliminated from playoff contention earlier in the day. Rather than let the news impact their performance, they rallied and put together one of their best games of the year. That is a credit to McCarthy's coaching and the culture he has built during his tenure.
The national media loves to portray McCarthy in a negative light. It has almost become a bit to harp on his failures and discredit him at every turn while glossing over all of the good that has happened during his tenure. Make no mistake: There's been a lot of good.
You might be thinking that playing hard is the bare minimum requirement for a professional sports team. While that might be true, there were numerous teams on Sunday with well-respected coaches that lied down. The Giants (Brian Daboll), Browns (Kevin Stefanski) and even the mighty 49ers (Kyle Shanahan) went out in their respective matchups without a whimper.
Playing hard was never going to be enough for McCarthy to save his job. He needs wins. If they lost against the Bucs at home after being in control for three quarters, that might have been enough to seal his fate.
With two division games left on the schedule against the Eagles and Commanders, respectively, the job isn't done. It's worth noting, though, that Philly might be without Jalen Hurts, who suffered a concussion on Sunday, and Dallas beat Washington just four weeks ago.
Maybe Jerry Jones has already made up his mind. Or maybe, Jason Garrett was onto something on Football Night in America when he said McCarthy's fate will be decided in the final three games.
McCarthy couldn't have scripted a better start if that's the case.