Mike McCarthy’s worst decision-making day buries the Cowboys in last place

ARLINGTON — If you could make COVID-19 go away for 30 minutes, clearly there are some wonderful life-changing developments you could hope to make happen. Let’s put all of those aside and, on this particular Thanksgiving, just make one wish far down anyone’s scale of real importance.

I wish we could have had Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, surrounded by the once familiar sea of microphones, taking questions on the decisions made by his head coach after a 41-16 romp by Washington at AT&T Stadium on Thursday.

In two matchups involving new coaches, Mike McCarthy’s team hasn’t stayed within three touchdowns of Ron Rivera’s team yet.

McCarthy, who arrived here in January basically by coaching a team that won a Super Bowl 10 years ago when Aaron Rodgers was on fire, had done precious little to suggest he was more than a journeyman hire through the first 10 games. Against Washington, he took deserved criticism to a level I have never witnessed with any Cowboys coach, and that runs from Tom Landry in his final failing seasons to the 1-15 Cowboys under Jimmy, the 5-11 Campo years and then the lost decade under Jason Garrett.

If the only questionable decision was his fourth-quarter fourth-and-10 fake punt call, that still would stand as one of the most frighteningly ill-advised calls in team history. Sadly for Cowboys fans, there were plenty of eyebrow-raising decisions and lack-of-preparation moments (14 men on the field, anyone?) that preceded it on this disastrous afternoon.

Afterward, McCarthy was defiant in explaining why Dallas — trailing by just four points — ran a fake punt from its own 24 on fourth-and-10. The reverse to Cedrick Wilson (he was supposed to throw to punter Hunter Niswander but that never developed) fooled no one and lost a yard. Rookie Antonio Gibson ran 23 yards for a touchdown on the next play and suddenly it was 27-16, Washington.

“It was a solid play call,” McCarthy said. Asked about the extraordinary gamble, the coach responded, “You won’t get anywhere thinking about the negative all the time.”

Oh, really? Then why does anyone EVER punt on fourth-and-10 deep in their own territory? I mean, what kind of negative thinking is a punt?

McCarthy rambled on about “film study,” but who cares if you think the punter might get open against a certain formation? If you succeed, you keep driving on your side of the 50. If you fail, you give the game away.

“I clearly understood the situation when it was called,” McCarthy said, implying he at least gets that there’s a risk-reward consideration in football even if he’s unfamiliar with how it works.

Think about questionable calls in the past. Think about the “Dumb and Dumber” headlines Barry Switzer generated when he went for it on fourth-and-1 in Dallas territory with the game’s all-time leading rusher. This was fourth-and-10, and all sorts of things had to go right to gain a first down.

This was the third failed fake punt this season from John Fassel, the special teams “guru” McCarthy praised after the Rams made him readily available last offseason. He’s tried a punter pass, a direct snap run and now a reverse pass. Apparently he has an entire brief case filled with these things. Maybe one of them works.

Before we forget, the Cowboys gambled in more conventional style on a fourth-and-1 at their own 34 in the first half. Instead of Andy Dalton sneaking for the first down (that would come later), offensive coordinator Kellen Moore called for a pass to CeeDee Lamb — a spectacular player, yes, but the least sure-handed wide receiver and leader in drops among that group — and he couldn’t make the grab against tight coverage.

I’m not here to get on Moore. We all thought — and I’m sure the Jones family thought — McCarthy would be calling plays and bringing his offensive ingenuity to the club in 2020. After giving up the play-calling in Green Bay one season, he stated he never planned to do that again. Then he did it almost immediately after taking Jerry’s money.

So if Moore makes mistakes as offensive coordinator, he’s doing it with power McCarthy willingly ceded to him. That’s on the head coach.

We’ve seen enough from last year to know Moore can direct an offense if he has the pieces. But with a team missing key components, the Cowboys needed the coaching staff to step up Thursday and — at least for a few days — grab a bit of first place in the division.

Instead, the Cowboys are alone in last. McCarthy guided them there Thursday with decisions and calls that shouldn’t have been made at the junior college level.

We will get Jerry’s delayed reaction in time. It’s that instant reaction that would have been … interesting.

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