In many ways, Mike McCarthy has been consistent as the Dallas Cowboys head coach. Three straight 12-win seasons? Impressive. His performance against lower-seeded teams in the playoffs? Not as impressive. And for some fans, that's enough to usher in the Bill Belichick Era at Jerry World.
Sunday marked the third time the Cowboys played in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs under McCarthy. When his team is the higher seed, the coach has failed to deliver, losing both of his chances, courtesy of The Athletic's Saad Yousuf.
In 2021, the Boys qualified for the playoffs as the NFC's three seed. But they were knocked off by the six-seeded San Francisco 49ers 23-17, a game that memorably ended with a Dak Prescott scramble as time eventually ran out.
In 2022, another upset was pulled off in a Cowboys playoff game. But this time, it was Dallas prevailing. They won as a number five seed over the fourth-seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers in quarterback Tom Brady's final NFL game.
Of course, Dallas locked up the NFC's number-two spot this playoffs, only to fall to the Packers, who became the first seven seed to win a playoff game.
Belichick the closer the Cowboys need?
Is McCarthy's latest playoff failure enough for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to make a change? Surely Jones will be tempted to gauge Belichick's interest in the high-pressure job.
For all of McCarthy's regular season success, most of Belichick's tenure as HC of the New England Patriots was judged by what happened after the regular season.
Thirty-six wins and two NFC East titles in two seasons illustrates just how talented this team is. But if Jones becomes convinced that the postseason is McCarthy's kryptonite (the 2010 season excluded?) replacing him with someone who has an unparalleled track record as a playoff coach could be on the table in Dallas.
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