3 strengths and 2 weaknesses of Mike McCarthy heading into 2023

Mike McCarthy weakness: Dan Quinn breathing down his neck

Whether this is simply outside perception or an actual "thing", I think it's safe to say that Dan Quinn is breathing down Mike McCarthy's neck a little bit in Dallas. From the outside looking in, it feels like the Dallas Cowboys would be extremely fine firing Mike McCarthy and replacing him with Dan Quinn if things got to that point.

If you think there's no validity to that line of thinking, just consider the fact that McCarthy put the target firmly on his own back this offseason when he let go of Kellen Moore and put the success of the offense squarely on himself. It's a gutsy move for McCarthy, but it could also indicate that he's putting his job security in his own hands. If the offense fails again in the playoffs this season, he's going to go down with that ship.

McCarthy isn't going to let Kellen Moore -- or anyone else -- be the reason why the Cowboys simply promote Dan Quinn to head coach. And Quinn has obviously been turning down other head coaching opportunities for a reason. Whether he's being passed up and losing these coaching opportunities is another discussion entirely, but it's very possible that Quinn simply looks at the writing on the wall in Dallas and sees that as his future job.

Plus, the Cowboys are probably paying him like a head coach anyway. Why would he go to a worse situation as the head coach of a bad team (like Arizona, for example) when he has the group that he has defensively in Dallas? Quinn has been making annual deposits in the bank of Jerry Jones's trust, while McCarthy has slowly been losing favor in the public eye.

Even though Jones has had McCarthy's back in many public situations, you can't deny that Dan Quinn is breathing down his neck.