Cowboys vs. Referees: Coach Mike McCarthy's Dallas 'Disease' Must Be Cured
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys have, in their last 10 games, endured two losses that they themselves have described as "devastating.''
Lucky for "America's Team,'' neither defeat was their fault.
There's an old sports saying about a good team involved in a last-minute thriller: "The Dallas Cowboys didn't lose; they just ran out of time.''
The Mike McCarthy Cowboys, having blown the two aforementioned games in epic - but "Don't-blame-us!'' - fashion, would like to amend that chestnut. ...
"The Dallas Cowboys didn't lose; the NFL just ran out of honest referees.''
Coach McCarthy has pushed many right buttons in his last season-and-a-half in Dallas. Entering Sunday, he boasted a regular-season mark of 18-7, outstanding by any measure and especially impressive because he's often won when centerpiece player Dak Prescott has been injured.
But he's guilty now of consistently pushing an ill-fated button, of complaining in a "Loser's Lament'' manner, of truly letting his mind and therefore the minds of his player travel into dangerous mental territory.
They truly believe they don't own their losses ... because they truly believe the referees and maybe the whole damn NFL is out to get 'em.
“They don’t ever give us any explanation,'' Dallas' CeeDee Lamb said after Sunday's 31-28 OT loss at Green Bay. "They just call flags on us and not on the opposing team.”
Added Tony Pollard: “Playing for the Cowboys, those type of calls we normally don’t get on our side. It’s expected.''
These absurd viewpoints echo that previous devastating loss, the Niners playoff success at AT&T Stadium last January after which usually-classy QB Dak Prescott literally encouraged the idea of Cowboys fans throwing trash at the referees.
"Credit to them,'' said Prescott, who having cooled down a couple of days later issued an apology for his ridiculous (and literally dangerous) take.
What really happened in that game? A subpar performance by the Cowboys, and by Prescott as well. Too many of his throws were errant and too many of his decisions failed - including a last-second attempt to run a QB draw that resulted in a big gain, but in some clock confusion that was the fault of both the officials and the Cowboys ... and it ended the game.
This time, in Green Bay? Dallas entered the fourth quarter with 14-point lead - a circumstance in which, in franchise history, the Cowboys' record had been 195-0 - and lost. There were arguably whistles and flags and calls everywhere, as there are every game, impacting both teams ... as happens every week in every NFL city.
But the Cowboys are being persecuted? How? Why?
“Very, very, VERY frustrating,” McCarthy howled after the game, hinting at who is really to blame for the outcome.
Meaning ... Not Dak. Not Lamb. Not Pollard. Not rookie receiver Jalen Tolbert, who clownishly lined up clearly across the line of scrimmage and then later, with the support of his coach and his quarterback, insisted that somehow the ref told him to do so.
McCarthy did add, “But you’ve got to overcome those things.”
But Big Mike: If you let yourself believe that being screwed by biased refs is your destiny, you'll never overcome anything.
And that is really the message here. The Cowboys of 2021 were the NFL's most penalized team; suddenly, Dallas is in the top five for infractions this year.
That's not the result of any "NFL-orchestrated conspiracy''; think logically: If the league wanted to influence outcomes, even ever so slightly, wouldn't the billions to be made on the Cowboys being in the playoffs/Super Bowl every year cause the NFL to be pro-Cowboys?
The Cowboys commit penalties for the same reason other teams do: Lack of focus. Lack of discipline. Lack of attention to detail. (Pay attention to what Micah Parsons is saying about his defensive mates; it ties in.)
A smart parent would never, ever tell his child that the teachers who keep giving the kid "D'' grades do it out of bias, and that all of the kid's report cards should really deserve "A's.'' Armed with that ammunition, the kid will grow up thinking nothing is his fault ...
And as a result, the kid will never get better.
Mike McCarthy is in charge of "53 kids'' here. It is his job, on game day, to make certain his guys perform at a level of competence that can overcome any "accidental incompetence'' - not to mention wind and rain and bad bounces.
If he allows his 53 kids to excuse away their own shortcomings by moaning, "Somebody up there doesn't like me,'' he's not doing his job.
Listen to Lamb again: “Every one of us was fighting hard today. But I feel like your confidence kind of gets negated every time the refs get involved, and then putting ourselves in bad situations and trying to dig ourselves out of it.”
That's a "Loser's Lament.'' And it leads to a major question about the mental toughness of "53 kids'' who refuse to accept the reality of blame ... Led by an otherwise-fine leader who apparently shares the same blind spot.
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