The Dallas Cowboys picked up their most complete win of the season on Sunday night, topping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a final score of 26-24. It was a highly entertaining game that featured two incredible, game-saving turnovers by Jourdan Lewis and DaRon Bland.
The Cowboys' offense struggled to put the game away in the second half. They punted on four straight possessions, but Lewis and Bland saved the day with two of the most impressive interceptions and forced fumbles you will ever see.
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It was a commendable performance at all three phases - one that increases Mike McCarthy's chances of saving his job. The win meant a lot to Jerry Jones, who both embraced McCarthy in the locker room postgame and went out of his way to praise McCarthy to the media.
Jones' intentions with McCarthy remain a mystery, but the head coach has the backing of seemingly the entire locker room and franchise great Troy Aikman.
You can add NBC color analyst Cris Collinsworth to the list. In defending McCarthy on the Sunday Night Football broadcast, Collinsworth took a swipe at Jerry Jones.
Cris Collinsworth said the quiet part out loud about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones during SNF broadcast
Collinsworth noted how much "stuff" McCarthy has to navigate behind the scenes as Dallas' head coach. The NBC analyst implied that hiring a Ben Johnson or an inexperienced candidate to replace McCarthy might be setting the team up for failure.
RJ Ochoa of Blogging The Boys captured Collinsworth's spiel.
Cris Collinsworth openly noting how there is a lot of "stuff" that goes into being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys while somewhat defending Mike McCarthy is pretty wild.
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) December 23, 2024
Not wild like breaking news. Just wild that the entire world knows that the Cowboys run their show in a…
With all of that goes into the job on and off the field, Collinsworth believes experience is needed to coach the Cowboys. Having to run everything by Jerry Jones, who's the de facto general manager in addition to owning the team, is not an ideal work environment for a first-time head coach.
There are numerous coordinators around the NFL that are attractive potential McCarthy replacements. That includes Lions coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, Bucs OC Liam Coen, Ravens OC Todd Monken and Vikings defensive guru Brian Flores.
Flores is the only one in that group who has previous head coach experience. He's worked wonders with the Vikings' defense, but his racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and strained relationship with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa could be red flags for the Joneses.
It says a lot about McCarthy that he's developed a winning culture while working in conjunction with one of the most dysfunctional front offices in football.
Folks are so quit to rag on McCarthy, but he's had to withstand Jones dangling his future for media exposure, bizarre salary cap management and countless detrimental roster moves.
We're not opposed to the Cowboys hiring an innovative offensive or defensive mind if McCarthy is let go, but don't lose sight that McCarthy's relationship with the Joneses and experience in the league is a big reason why this operation works.