Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and head coach Mike McCarthy are under fire following Sunday’s ugly loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs.
First off, Dallas committed a franchise playoff record 14 penalties in what ended up being a narrow 23-17 home loss to the 49ers.
For his part, McCarthy drew the ire of the football world by playing it conservative with the team down 16 in the second half.
However, it’s the final play of the game that has people talking. With just 14 seconds left and no timeouts, Dak Prescott executed a designed run. Unfortunately, the Cowboys were not able to get another play off — ending the game in the process.
Following the game, it’s being reported Kellen Moore actually called the designed run, not Mr. McCarthy. According to NFL insider Mike Silver, McCarthy was on the headset and was alright with the play call.
That’s just all sorts of horrible right there. Dallas was driving down the field and had time to throw one more pass on the outside before trying for a game-winning touchdown. Instead, the team called the one play that just didn’t make any sense. It’s not a great look for Moore, McCarthy and Co.
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Dallas Cowboys coaching situation and Kellen Moore
Ahead of Sunday’s loss, it was reported that McCarthy’s job might be on the line if a 12-5 team exited from the NFL Playoffs early. Now that this has happened, there’s growing rumors that McCarthy could in fact be out of a job.
It’s something a visibly upset Jerry Jones did not want to touch on after the game.
“I don’t even want to discuss anything like that at this particular time,” the longtime owner told reporters at AT&T Stadium.
Jones also went on to say that a team with this combination of talent should not be exiled in the Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs. That’s hard to disagree with.
The backdrop here is interest in Kellen Moore as a head coach from multiple teams. Perhaps, that’s one of the reasons McCarthy’s seat is relatively hot at this point.
However, it’s also safe to assume that Moore’s play call on that Prescott run will be a subject of conversation in interviews with other teams.
As for the Cowboys, they have not made it to the NFC Championship Game in over a quarter-century. Despite finishing 12-5 during the regular season, we’re now looking at a long off-season in Big D. Sunday’s horrible performance adds another layer to that.