Cowboys fans yearn for Jimmy Johnson as Mike McCarthy nearly collapses vs Lions

The Dallas Cowboys inducted Jimmy Johnson into their Ring of Honor on Saturday night. It was an overdue honor for Johnson, who's arguably the greatest coach in the history of the franchise given what he accomplished in a five-year span. Unfortunately, Mike McCarthy paid tribute to Johnson in the worst way possible with a horrific coaching display against the Detroit Lions.

With a chance to bleed valuable seconds off the clock, McCarthy dialed up a pass that prevented the Lions from burning a precious timeout. The Cowboys ultimately settled for a field goal and kicked the ball back to Detroit with ample time to tie the game with a touchdown.

Before you could blink, the Lions marched down the field and scored a TD. The visitors nearly walked away with a victory, too. They converted the two-point conversion to take the lead with 20 seconds left, but it was called back because of a controversial illegal touching penalty.

All of that chaos saved McCarthy from a collapse of epic proportions but the head coach should still have to answer to the media. While he's at it, he should probably apologize to Jimmy Johnson.

Cowboys fans probably want Jimmy Johnson back after Mike McCarthy's nightmare vs Lions

This game was the full McCarthy experience. Hardly any of it was good. Hardly, and Cowboys fans aired their grievances.

Coming into the game, everyone (literally everyone) knew that the Cowboys would have to rely on their passing attack. While Dak Prescott was exceptional yet again, McCarthy's insistence on running on early downs had a ripple effect on the offense. He called a play action deep shots called on 2nd and 12 when they just run for a two-yard loss.

For the second week in a row, Prescott's playmaking bailed the Cowboys out of second and third and longs caused by his play-caller.

The baffling part is McCarthy abandoned the run when all he needed to do was bleed clock. He had the script backwards and it nearly cost Dallas the game. He spotted the Lions an extra 40 seconds and they scored the near-go-ahead-touchdown with just under 30 seconds left.

We saw this exactly a month ago. Remember the 3rd and short against the Seahawks when McCarthy called a pass that didn't bleed clock inside the two-minute warning? It almost cost the Cowboys a win. How did that not register as a problem for the coaching staff? How is it still happening?

The Cowboys should've had this game wrapped up. McCarthy tried to lose it and our confidence in the head coach is as low as its been in a while with the playoffs just two weeks away. You never apologize for a win, but this victory wasn't a sign of good things to come.

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