What does the Cowboys collapse mean for Mike McCarthy? Jerry Jones’s apology sheds light on the answer

ARLINGTON, Texas – Jerry Jones couldn’t hide his frustration.

The Dallas Cowboys’ fourth straight loss and fifth straight home loss were “not fun” and “not pretty,” he said.

“There’s no joy here without winning games,” Jones said after the Cowboys’ 34-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. “And I feel very sorry to our fans. Terribly.”

Jones’ regrets will impact how he manages his spiraling 3-6 team. But don’t expect those regrets to translate into an imminent decision on head coach Mike McCarthy.

Because the team owner, who is also the general manager and chief decision maker of the Cowboys, also regrets his history there.

Jones values ​​second chances and optimistic prospects. He likes to mention the small but not zero possibility that the storybook ending he’s looking for still exists.

On the occasions when he acted rashly, or even arguably proportionately, he nonetheless felt guilty about his personnel moves.

“I don’t even understand why I don’t have hope,” he said.

Let’s explain.

Some may view Jason Garrett’s 10-year tenure as generous in a league where coach and front office turnover is rampant. Garrett won 55.9% of games in those years (85-67 record) and advanced to the playoffs three times. But the Cowboys’ 2-3 playoff record under Garrett never included a win or appearance in the Super Bowl, or even an appearance in an NFC title game.

Still, Jones is more comfortable with not renewing Garrett in 10 years than with firing Wade Phillips after a 1-7 start in his fourth season. He also fired Chan Gailey in the late 1990s after an 18-14 year tenure.

“I changed coaches during the season at Wade and I always regretted it,” Jones said Sunday night at AT&T Stadium as an open elevator door waited for him. “And actually after two years I made a change at Chan Gailey. I regretted that. That’s not enough. You have to give yourself a chance.

‘I’ve had a lot more rope in my time. I have never experienced anyone shortchanging me.”

Jones’ prospects appear to indicate that McCarthy, who has won 46 of 76 regular-season games with Dallas (60.5%), will coach the remaining eight games of Dallas’ season.

But players know about McCarthy’s coaching in the final year of his current Cowboys contract.

And their varied comments after the match reflected the uncertainty over who will lead them next season.

‘That’s above my pay grade [whether] Mike will be coaching again next year,” said edge rusher Micah Parsons. “Coaching, Mike can leave and go wherever he wants. Guys I feel a little sorry for [are veteran right guard] Zack Martin and guys who might be in their senior year or on their way out. Because that’s who I wanted to hold the trophy for.”

Teammates expressed the need to “fight” for McCarthy as long as he is head coach.

But at least one of the team’s stars sees a closing window in terms of the men in the locker room.

“You want to win games and do great things with legends like that who put in more time and more work than Mike McCarthy ever did,” Parsons said, without clarifying whether he was referring only to Cowboy’s tenure. “Those are the kind of guys I have so much sympathy and pain for.”

Cowboys offense didn’t give team a chance vs. Eagles

As the game clock mercifully wound down, McCarthy knew the result was unacceptable. He also knew that the recipe that produced the 28-point loss was even more troubling than the score in a vacuum.

“You can’t win games by turning the ball over five times. I don’t care who’s in line,” McCarthy said. “We can’t turn it around and that’s something our fans have done in the last two home games should be angry.

“That’s not what we’re about.”

The Cowboys have been on a lopsided losing streak filled with penalties and turnovers for months, especially at their home stadium AT&T.

Since the Green Bay Packers beat the Cowboys 48-32 at home in the wild-card game, Dallas hasn’t broken the JerryWorld curse. The Cowboys, who trailed 48-16 in the fourth quarter of that game, were the only home team not to advance to the divisional round.

Since then, they have lost at home to a similarly spiraling New Orleans Saints team, 44-19, and to the Baltimore Ravens 28-25. The Detroit Lions outscored the Cowboys by a whopping 47-9… and the Eagles came to town for 34-6.

The Cowboys coughed up five turnovers against the Lions with Dak Prescott and five without him against the Eagles. Miscommunication, indiscipline and pressure were already problems – and with Prescott recovering from a likely season-ending hamstring tear, those issues were exacerbated.

The turnover came when Cowboys center Cooper Beebe and quarterback Cooper Rush botched a quick exchange, and running back Ezekiel Elliott lost the ball as he plowed into the end zone. They came when Eagles edge rusher Bryce Huff sacked Rush and tight end Jake Ferguson tried to catch a pass with one hand and then fumbled it. Backup quarterback Trey Lance threw an interception to complete the donation.

“It’s unacceptable,” McCarthy said. “There’s no way you can disguise that.”

And for the eighth straight game, the Cowboys couldn’t score in the third quarter. Their trifecta of three-and-outs in the third quarter increased the Eagles’ lead from eight points to 22. The Eagles outscored the Cowboys 20-0 in the second half.

Rush and Lance combined to complete 17 of 29 pass attempts for a total of 66 yards.

“What do we do halfway to get the water out of the tub?” Jones said. “At the half, the third quarter? That’s really the puzzle.

“I don’t know what we’re drinking in the third quarter when we come out. But it doesn’t work.”

Even the optimistic Jones has struggled to find the Cowboys silver lining

Jones was more testy than usual in his post-match interview, and his public patience seemed to wane even as he preached moves that stayed the course.

When asked what a dreary day said about Prescott’s role with the team, Jones said he “didn’t want to be sarcastic, but do you have the same arithmetic as me?” We won three games with Dak, okay? So I’m just saying, we didn’t play well with Dak at all.

He sidestepped a question about Elliott because he didn’t want to exclude anyone on the flop. ‘Instead of the rest [grading] Fs and Ds, did anyone have a C-minus? Who cares about that?”

And on coaching’s role in the Cowboys’ loss, Jones said “everyone has a hand in this,” including players, coaches and the front office. He didn’t want to blame the sun for blinding each team on some plays, but he did want to spread the responsibility in a different way.

“It’s no comfort for anyone to come out here and say to the fans, ‘That’s my fault.’ I’ll take this one,” Jones said. “What does that do? That doesn’t win the ball game. And so I don’t try to put out that BS.

As McCarthy talked onstage and Cowboys players answered questions from a locker room devoid of music and chatter, the man most responsible for shaping the franchise outlined criteria for evaluating his coach for the remainder of the season.

Jones not only wants to see what the teams’ results are, but also “how we play” and gives the coaching staff an edge to his players. Are they competitive? Are they competitive if they have to recover from a deficit?

All this and more will come into play.

The Cowboys’ three consecutive 12-win seasons and playoff berths during McCarthy’s tenure will influence whether he receives an extension offer. Their dramatic playoff exits and current obstacles will also be weighed.

“Mike is a great coach,” Jones said. “In my opinion he is a great coach [who] must be given the opportunity to do better than we are playing now.

“So like I said, I didn’t have a good experience changing coaches mid-season.”

Cornerback Jourdan Lewis said the Cowboys would continue to battle in a season that somehow still has eight games left.

“We have to go out there and fight for him every day [and] translate it into the wins,” Lewis told Yahoo Sports. “At the end of the day, we have to go out there and fight.

“The coach is still at the helm and we have to fight for him.”

Positivity and light are the key to that fighting spirit, Parsons said. He put his own spin on the message he heard in the team chapel this weekend.

“Be the light,” said Parsons. “Even when it’s damn dark, light up, man.”