Mike McCarthy makes surprising admission about Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy made a somewhat surprising admission about the team’s mentality early in Sunday’s playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

McCarthy admitted during his news conference Wednesday that he sensed nerves from his team early in Sunday’s loss. The head coach felt that his team was nervous during the team prayer, and believes it impacted them early in the game.

Mike McCarthy described his #Cowboys as being nervous entering their playoff game, saying he sensed it during the pregame prayer and felt it inhibited them early in the loss to #Niners. pic.twitter.com/mGNPFe8FWt

— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) January 19, 2022

The first half suggests there might be some truth to McCarthy’s assessment. The Cowboys allowed a touchdown on the first drive of the game, and did not get on the board themselves until the second quarter. By that point, Dallas was already down 13-0.

On the other hand, this isn’t something McCarthy should want to admit. Not only does it reflect poorly on the mental preparation of the players, but it suggests McCarthy did a bad job getting them ready for the game. That may have shown in other ways that hurt Dallas at the end of the game.

There had been some chatter that McCarthy could lose his job over how the season ended, though that has been dismissed by the team. Despite that vote of confidence, quotes like this will not inspire a lot of confidence that McCarthy is the coach to lead Dallas to a championship.

Photo: Dec 19, 2021; East Rutherford, N.J., USA;
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy looks on during the second half of their game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports