Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys just can’t get it right. We saw that first hand Sunday afternoon as Dallas was blown out at home by the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles.

Dallas fell to 3-6 on the season via an humiliating 34-6 loss. Fans inside AT&T Stadium were in absolute shock as things played out.

With quarterback Dak Prescott sidelined to a hamstring injury, Cooper Rush got the start for Dallas. This came aftercalls were made for the Cowboys to start youngster Trey Lance. The end result for Rush was a miserable performance. He completed 13-of-24 passes for 45 yards before ultimately being relieved by Lance in garbage time.

How bad was it for Dallas? The team put up six points while turning the ball over five times.

Despite all of this, McCarthy noted on Monday that Rush will remain the Cowboys’ starting quarterback moving forward. He also took blame for Rush’s disaster class of a performance.

“I didn’t get Cooper [Rush] into a rhythm, and that’s something that I didn’t feel good about in the game.” McCarthy told reporters on Monday, via the Cowboys’ official website. “We need to find a better way of doing that, I need to do a better job there.”

The Cowboys did play well defensively early on. That included Micah Parsons recording two sacks in his return to action. However, the inept nature of Dallas’ offense proved to be too much. When all was said and done, the Cowboys put up 146 total yards of offense.

Speaking of Parsons, he’s now heavily involved in some major drama after calling McCarthy out Sunday evening.

“That’s above my pay grade, if Mike’s coach again next year. All coaching aside, Mike can leave and go where he wants to. Guys I kind of feel bad for is guys like Zack Martin and guys who might be on their last year, on their way out, because that’s who I wanted to hold the trophy for,” Parsons told reporters, via ESPN.

“You want to win games and do great things with those type of legends who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did. So, those are the kind of guys that I have so much sympathy and hurt for.”

That’s not exactly what we’d call a ringing endorsement of McCarthy from one of his best players.

As for the head coach, he was pushed on Parsons’ comments one day after Dallas’ latest blowout loss. McCarthy indicated that he had a conversation with the star edge rusher, leaving it there.

From a football standpoint, it’s safe to say that the Cowboys are in the midst of a lost season. They are 3-6 on the campaign and going nowhere fast.

We now have to ask a really simple question. Is it time for the Cowboys to fire McCarthy? Fans will give us their opinions. The answer for a vast majority of them in Dallas would be a resounding yes. But that’s fandom. It has to be looked at through a different lens even if the end result is the same.

It’s also important to note that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters after Sunday’s game that McCarthy will not be fired mid-season. We can potentially take that with a grain of salt given Jones’ own history.

Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys Continue To Embarrass Themselves

Narrow losses. They are signs that the team is still going out and playing hard. The same thing can’t be said about the blowouts we’ve seen Dallas be on the receiving end of this season.

The last time these Cowboys played at home before Sunday was back on Oct. 13 against the Detroit Lions. They were humiliated by the score of 47-9. Dallas is now 0-4 on the season in front of its home crowd. It has been outscored by a margin of 153-59 in those four games.

Jones is pretty much as patient as they get when it comes to his head coaches. But performances like this obviously don’t sit well with him.

Will Jerry Jones Still Back Mike McCarthy?

Ahead of Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia, it appeared that Jones had McCarthy’s back.

“I’m good with Mike. I know how hard he works. I like his football mind. I know how good he works. He’s got, in my mind, an outstanding coaching record,” Jones told reporters, via Jon Machota of The Athletic.

“He’s really good with the players. They think highly of him. He’s got a lot of fire in his belly. So, I’m just giving you this, I like the positives I see. And by the way, frankly, some of the best coaches I’ve been around, I got to see them when times were bad.”

This could very well be Jones’ way of gaslighting us. He had similar comments relating to former head coach Jason Garrett before firing him after the 2019 season.

The last time Jones fired a head coach mid-season was all the way back in 2010 when he moved on from Wade Phillips, only to name Garrett the interim coach. As I noted above, he’s among the most loyal owners in the NFL when it comes to his coaches. He showed that again following Sunday’s loss. At least, publicly.

At issue here is a lack of any respectful play from the Cowboys as of late. They have now lost four consecutive games with an outing against the upstart Houston Texans looming.

After that, Dallas must contend teams such as the Eagles and Washington Commanders (twice) throughout the remainder of the season. With Prescott sidelined for the long haul, any real hope of remaining competitive can be thrown out the window.

When facing a situation like that, it could force a decision-maker to simply go in a different direction. Whether Jones is at that point remains to be seen.

Who Would Replace Mike McCarthy With The Cowboys?

This is the obvious question. Dallas hired former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer to be its defensive coordinator after Dan Quinn departed for the Washington Commanders.

Zimmer’s performance in this role has very much been questionable. Dallas entered Sunday’s game ranked 31st in scoring defense at north of 28 points per game. Sure, injuries have played a role. But this unit has also taken a major step back compared to the previous few seasons. It’s that simple.

There was a thought process that Jones brought in Zimmer to be a head coach in waiting should the Cowboys struggle. Given the performance of this defense under him, that might not be the case.

The same thing can be said for offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer who is leading the 20th-ranked scoring offense after this unit was first overall last season.

Like we’ve seen with other teams who have fired their head coaches this season, it’s more likely that the Cowboys will turn to an assistant.

Special teams coordinator John Fassel and offensive line coach Mike Solari are two names that pop up first.

Either way, we could very well be nearing the end of the Mike McCarthy era in Dallas. Whether it’s during the season or in January, said era is seemingly ending in an embarrassing fashion. These latest events add another layer to that.