ARLINGTON, Texas — Week 16 started off with a funeral of sorts for the Dallas Cowboys (7-8). It ended as a celebration.
The Cowboys found out they were eliminated from postseason contention and that they would miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season when the Washington Commanders reached their 10th win of the season with their 36-33 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday afternoon. That’s why it felt like someone had died when Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones met with head coach Mike McCarthy in his office just before kickoff of their “Sunday Night Football” showdown with then-NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers. McCarthy called their postseason elimination “a real punch in the gut.”
Sunday ended in jubilation for the Cowboys after their defense forced turnovers on two of the Buccaneers’ final three drives. There was a leaping interception at the goal line by cornerback Jourdan Lewis — who was playing through an elbow injury that forced him to wear a brace on his arm — and a forced fumble by cornerback DaRon Bland, who simply ripped the football out of Tampa Bay running back Rachaad White’s arms to seal Dallas’ 26-24 victory, their fourth win in the last five games.
“Well, it was a down time. When Mike [McCarthy] and I met in his office before the game, we both looked like we had lost somebody,” Jerry Jones said postgame. “So it was something that you had to get above, the reality that we weren’t going to go [to the playoffs]. The other thing is, I’m telling you, I hope everybody does agree with me: That was a big effort. Those turnovers, forcing those fumbles. The interception. It may be one of the best interceptions I’ve seen on the goal at the time you’re supposed to have them. You can’t say enough about the way Mike’s got the fight in the team.”
It would have been very easy for Lewis — 29 years old and in a contract year — to not suit up on Sunday and risk a serious injury with the postseason no longer being an option. However, that’s not the culture that’s taken a hold of McCarthy’s bunch.
“This is football. This is what I love to do. That’s loser talk,” Lewis said postgame when asked what he would say to people who say there is nothing left to play for. “When you got that momentum and you got that thing going, you want to keep it going. I would love for him [McCarthy] to be back. I love the platform, and I love what we’ve built.”
Bland echoed Lewis’ sentiments, calling the way the Cowboys refuse to give up in what’s now an officially lost season “our heart.”
“Just trying to finish it out right. Can’t just lay down. Have to finish it off the right way,” Bland said postgame. “I feel like that’s our heart. That’s our drive. We’re not a team that’s going to give up, so that’s us.”
“The guys in the locker room that we have, I don’t think it takes much,” Cowboys fill-in starting quarterback Cooper Rush said postgame when asked about the team’s fight and attitude despite being eliminated. “That’s just who we are, and Mike’s created that culture over the years. A lot of players with a lot of wins in that locker room over the last three seasons.”
Jones even went as far to say that the effort his Cowboys showed by snapping the Buccaneers’ four-game winning streak Sunday night made it look like they were still playing for a shot to compete for the Super Bowl.
“They wouldn’t give it up out there, so I’m real, real proud of them. Mike McCarthy, he just won’t let them not think that they’re not playing for a Super Bowl out there,” Jones said. “He won’t let them do it. I’m proud of them. Proud of the coach.”
Face of the franchise quarterback Dak Prescott (hamstring tear), future Hall of Fame right guard Zack Martin (ankle), four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (foot), Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs (knee) and ascending, second-year linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (knee) are all on injured reserve. Yet, Dallas continued to make play after play in another winning effort.
“It meant so much to us to get the win,” Jones said. “That’s an outstanding team out there, a playoff team out there [in the Buccaneers]. A playoff team. The key thing is that the defense, [defensive coordinator] Mike Zimmer, Mike McCarthy, the players … they’re fighting all the way. There’s no question we’re fighting with a very limited deck out here right now, and those guys are doing a great job. My hat is off to Mike McCarthy.”
All Micah Parsons had known in his NFL career since being selected 12th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft is Dallas going 12-5 and making the postseason from 2021 to 2023. However, he feels what the Cowboys have done down the stretch of this season can carry over into 2025.
“One hundred percent. It’s the morale, it’s the energy to say ‘I’ve played with worse,'” Parsons said postgame. “I can say I’ve played with guys who were banged up, and we were missing [guys]. You need those types of testimonies to go into the future when you talk about leadership of guys who are willing to come in and say ‘Yo, we might start off 0-2, but we’ve been here. Like, this ain’t nothing. I know what we can overcome. I’ve been here before.’ Especially [as] someone who hopes to be here very long term, you need testimony years. You need to go through things. Everything can’t be sunshine and rainbows. I’m looking to finish the year strong and prove to these guys that we could get over anything. It’s all about us and the people in the locker room.”
Parsons certainly thinks a strong finish can help keep McCarthy and his staff around for at least another year, something he is battling to help achieve. His 8.5 sacks and 41 quarterback pressures since his Week 10 return from a high ankle sprain that held him out for four games are the most in the entire NFL.
“Yeah, for sure. I think everyone is fighting for a lot,” Parsons said. “We got 30 free agents. Coaches want to get to come back, so we’re just fighting to keep the brotherhood together at the end of the day. We all love our coaches, our teammates. We’re just trying to keep this as tight packed as possible because we know what we’re capable of.”
It would be very easy for Jones to put a lot of stock into the numerous injuries his Cowboys suffered through in 2024, but it’s not the only factor he is looking at. In fact, he even partially blamed his work as the team’s general manager for Dallas not making a postseason return.
“I don’t want to get into the litany [of injuries]. There’s many things that have gone into us sitting here not in the playoffs,” Jones said. “You can start with me. I’m not trying to be any way other than a lot of people contribute to it when you win. A lot of people contribute to it when you don’t. But boy, give me that kind of effort. That kind of professionalism. Those guys came out and played as though they were fighting in the [NFC] Championship game to go to the Super Bowl. I can’t tell you how proud I am of them and the coaching staff. It really shows me something.”
When asked directly what McCarthy has shown him and what his current evaluation of his head coach is now, Jones didn’t make any declarations. Between blaming himself for what happened this season and gushing about the emotion the Cowboys showed, McCarthy’s odds of being Dallas’ head coach next season trended up at the end of Sunday night.
“Mike is an outstanding coach,” Jones said. “I’m just proud that they got rewarded and that the team is playing at that level because he’s got them coached up to play at that level even though you realize when you’re not in those playoffs, you can’t get to the big one. He’s got this team, that’s as good of an emotional performance, effort performance as I’ve seen us have. I don’t know what to compare it to.”
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