Cowboys owner Jerry Jones walked through the tunnel on his way to the locker room, a big smile on his face after the 26-24 lead. He put coach Mike McCarthy in a bear hug in the locker room.
Jones was absolutely stunned.
“Mike McCarthy, he’s not going to let them think they’re out there playing for a Super Bowl. He’s not going to let them do that. Proud of him. Proud of the coach,” Jones said.
The Cowboys were eliminated from playoff contention before kickoff. They didn’t talk about it as a team, but they knew it.
Despite this, they still won against a team that needed to win to stay at the top of their division.
“There’s a lot of things that don’t sit well with us in the playoffs, and you can start with me,” Jones said. “I’m not trying to be any other way than when you win, a lot of people contribute. A lot of people contribute when you don’t. But, boy, I love this. The kind of effort, those guys kind of came out and played like they were fighting to go to the Super Bowl, I can’t tell you how proud I am of them and the coaching staff.”
Jones repeatedly praised McCarthy in his five-minute postgame news conference.
McCarthy is in the final year of his contract, but now he looks more likely to be back than he was six weeks ago or even six months ago. McCarthy, though, is tight-lipped about his future as he is not under contract until 2025.
Jones said he has “nothing that I would share” about what will happen at the end of the season in two weeks.
McCarthy is 49-33 in the regular season in five seasons with the Cowboys but just 1-3 in the postseason.
“Mike is a fantastic coach,” Jones said. “I’m proud that he got the award, and the team is playing at this level, because he coached them to play at this level, even though you realize when you’re not in these playoffs, you get Can’t. Big, but he’s got this team (playing hard). It’s an emotional performance, I’ve compared it.”
