With a win on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys will clinch the No. 2 seed in the NFC and finish off a 12-5 regular season. Depending on how the playoffs go, it may not be enough to salvage coach Mike McCarthy’s job.
McCarthy’s playoff performance may be decisive for his job status, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. There is some belief, even within the Cowboys organization, that an embarrassing loss to end the season could be enough to get McCarthy fired.
Another complicating factor is the status of defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. The Cowboys think very highly of Quinn and would love to keep him, even though he may be in contention for head coaching jobs again. If the Cowboys do make a change, they have a potential replacement in Quinn already on their coaching staff. That had already been floated as a potential outcome when rumors first surfaced about McCarthy potentially being on the hot seat.
McCarthy is in his fourth season as Dallas head coach, and is 41-25 in the regular season ahead of Sunday’s finale. He has gone just 1-2 in the playoffs, however, with a record marred by two bad losses to the San Francisco 49ers that were at least partly down to some horrendous mismanagement. Another one of those and McCarthy may not be given another chance.
