As they always seem to do, the Dallas Cowboys exited early in the playoffs yet again, this time in the wild-card round at the hands of a little team that could named the Green Bay Packers. The Packers barely made the playoffs thanks to a hot streak late in the regular season, but they had Dallas looking discombobulated, as they took a 27-0 lead and cruised to a 48-32 victory.
Once again, quarterback Dak Prescott underperformed as usual, throwing two interceptions, both of them coming in the first half. Although he did have three touchdown passes, two of them came in the second half of the fourth quarter with the outcome long ago decided.
While Prescott has gotten criticism for the Cowboys’ collapse, even more negative energy has been directed at head coach Mike McCarthy, who has been rumored to be on the hot seat. Some have wondered about the possibility of former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick replacing McCarthy, should McCarthy get fired, but former Cowboys star Dez Bryant isn’t buying it.
The reason? Belichick didn’t allow former Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott, who spent 2023 in New England, to be released so he could return to his old team.
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Elliott was once arguably the Cowboys’ biggest weapon on offense, but his productivity has declined over the last few years, and they decided to release him in March and allow Tony Pollard to become their starter in the backfield.
While McCarthy has a Super Bowl ring as a head coach from the 2010 season when he was at the helm of the Green Bay Packers, he has become something of a scapegoat recently for frustrated Cowboys fans.
It is widely believed that Belichick, 71, wants to continue coaching. He is closing in on Don Shula’s all-time career coaching wins record, and he would likely want to surpass Shula in order to greatly add to his legacy.
One has to think Belichick will want to go to a team that has the talent to compete for a Super Bowl title right away, and the Cowboys fit that description. He could provide organizational stability for a franchise that is constantly under the microscope and has experienced nothing but failure for nearly 30 years come playoff time.
However, it remains to be seen if owner Jerry Jones would allow Belichick the type of personnel power he may want, something he had a lot of in New England.
