The Dallas Cowboys appeared to be out for blood in their season-opening win against the New York Giants. Was the 40-0 drubbing a result of one motivational tactic from head coach Mike McCarthy?
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott piqued reporters’ interest during the postgame press conference following Dallas’ win at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Prescott praised McCarthy for the “amazing” team meeting the coach held prior to the game. When pressed further, Prescott explained what McCarthy asked the players to do
“He took 5 minutes and told us to take our phones out,” Dak said, via Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports. “Text, call and thank all the people who mean the most to you and who got you this point.”
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott touted Mike McCarthy’s team meeting before 40-0 win as “amazing.” Why?
“He took 5 minutes and told us to take our phones out,” Dak told @YahooSports. “Text, call and thank all the people who mean the most to you and who got you this point.”
It resonated.
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) September 11, 2023
McCarthy needed a lot fewer words to hype up his side than Al Pacino did during his pregame speech on “Any Given Sunday.” The Cowboys coach still got the same result — a football team ready to play hard out on the field.
The pregame meeting might have resonated a little bit more with the Cowboys defense. Dallas’ defense did not allow a single point in the contest and even scored a TD. Their defensive touchdown came courtesy of a pick-six from DaRon Bland. Dallas also had a special teams touchdown on a blocked FG attempt returned by Noah Igbinoghene.
The Cowboys will face the New York Jets in Week 2. How McCarthy follows up his Week 1 pregame tactic might actually be something to watch out for in that contest.
