Do any other Dallas Cowboys fans feel sorry for Mike McCarthy? While his limitations as a head coach are apparent, he was set up to fail this season.
Despite claiming to be all-in, Jerry Jones said during the offseason that the Cowboys would have to do "more with less" in 2024. It's become increasingly obvious that this season is a "soft rebuild", as Cowboys Nation as coined it, before Dallas (hopefully) goes for it in 2025 and beyond.
The Cowboys preach building through the draft, but they have so many roster shortcomings that there's no telling what position they focus on in the first round. Between wide receiver, nose tackle, running back and offensive tackle/guard, Dallas has a plethora of needs.
Where Jerry Jones really screwed McCarthy, though, was at running back. Jones preached confidence in a backfield committee and it has blown up in his face. It is borderline laughable that Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook led the backfield in Week 8 against the 49ers.
McCarthy was not a proponent of rotating RBs this season. He told reporters that a committee wasn't his preferred method but he feels "it's the best way to utilize these guys," per Clarence Hill or DLLS.
Mike McCarthy throws subtle shade at Jerry Jones over Cowboys running back personnel
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said “RB by committee approach” was “definitely” not the preferred method. “But we feel it’s the best way to utilize these guys.”
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) October 30, 2024
To some extent, most NFL teams embrace a running back by committee. Some of the most explosive offenses deploy two capable running backs. The Lions are an outlier with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, but gone are the days when a single RB is fed 20-25 carries per game.
The problem with the Cowboys is that Dowdle is their only adequate back. He should receive between 12-18 carries per game, but he's only reached that plateau once this season - in Week 5 against the Steelers. In a perfect world Dowdle is your RB2 behind a more dynamic runner.
Instead, McCarthy has to rotate Dowdle with Elliott and Cook, who are simply not good anymore, even though the Cowboys had the cap space to bring in a Derrick Henry or Aaron Jones. Even J.K. Dobbins or Zack Moss would have moved the needle.
Again, McCarthy deserves his fair share of criticism. Dallas has been utterly dominated in the third quarter this season. They've been outscored 69-12 coming out of halftime.
The offense had miscommunication errors on multiple plays on the opening drive against the 49ers. Not only are those plays scripted, but the team was coming off a bye meaning they had two weeks to prepare. And don't get us started on his clock management.
What can't be argued, though, is that McCarthy doesn't have the personnel required to make a deep playoff run, which is seemingly what he needs to save his job. Running back is the most obvious example, but the problems are scattered up and down the roster.
Kudos to McCarthy for sticking up to the front office.