REPORT: 3 reasons Cowboys must not fire Mike McCarthy after loss to 49ers

After a tough loss to the 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys can point fingers in many directions. And Trevon Diggs can fume and fuss about social media.

But there are two reasons why the Cowboys must not fire head coach Mike McCarthy after the loss to the 49ers.

The Cowboys fell victim to Brock Purdy, George Kittle, and the 49ers in a 30-24 loss on Sunday night. Dallas controlled the first half, but fell apart in the third quarter. Then the Cowboys made a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback attempt.

But the big picture needs to be in focus here. And since it’s Texas, it should be able to see the big picture.

Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy should ride to end of 2024 season

Look, the Cowboys don’t have the roster to be a true Super Bowl contender right now. That’s considering the injuries in the mix. If they get completely healthy and make a blockbuster trade before the deadline, it could change.

But as the Cowboys stand now, they’re not an elite team. And that’s not all McCarthy’s fault. He’s dealing with the roster Jerry Jones gave him. There’s no Derrick Henry at running back, which clearly turned into a free-agent decision the Cowboys regret.

No coaching change will fix the offense. Only a trade could do that. Now, a coaching change might help the defense, but there’s still a softness in the middle that will likely hurt the Cowboys against teams with strong ground attacks.

Quarterback Dak Prescott has offered three straight games with two interceptions. And for McCarthy’s part, he thinks taking care of the football on offense will make a difference, according to dallascowboys.com.

“I think it’s bigger on taking care of it,” McCarthy said. “Just like anything if you take care of the football every single week, you’re never going to lose the turnover ratio, at worst it would be zero-zero. We executed takeaways at a higher level the last three years. But our opportunities are not far off of the last couple years. So we’re getting there, but we’re not converting.”

Of course, the Cowboys have more problems than turnovers. One of them is putting full games together. They completely came unglued in the third quarter against the 49ers. McCarthy said the downturn cost his team the game, according to dallascowboys.com.

“The third quarter was definitely a factor in the outcome — the three three-and-outs by our offense and the one giveaway,” said McCarthy. “You have ebbs and flows of the game and we definitely stayed in that valley way too long. It felt solid at halftime. We didn’t give our defense any relief (in the third quarter).”

A strong reason to keep Mike McCarthy

The Cowboys haven’t quit. Yes, Trevon Diggs had what appeared to be an effortless play against the 49ers. And yes, the Cowboys look like a team that quit against the Lions.

However, they bounced back strong against the 49ers and had a good half. And then after the third-quarter debacle, they came back and had possession with a chance to win.

This is a sign of a team that hasn’t given up on its coach. McCarthy liked what he saw in the final quarter, according to dallascowboys.com.

“We did an excellent job of fighting back in the fourth quarter and needed to make one or two more plays,” McCarthy said. “And (we) still had a chance to go down and win it on that last series. We’re disappointed. I think our men had a really good week of preparation. There were definitely areas of improvement, but we still have a ton to work on.

“We didn’t get it done. We’ll go back and continue to work hard on the planning part of it. As coaches and players, we can learn from this. We’re 3-4. That’s the facts of this deal. We felt like we’d do what we needed to do to come in here and get the win, but we came up short.”

Another reason the Cowboys need to keep McCarthy right now is the stretch they have coming up. They travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons before coming back home to meet the Eagles and Texans. Then they visit the Washington Commanders. Those four teams own a combined record of 22-9 through Week 8. And they all lead their respective divisions, except the Eagles. And they are in second place in the NFC East behind the Commanders.

Bringing in a new coach, even if in an interim role, could make that guy look bad. Who would want to take this team over at this moment? Maybe a desperate assistant. Maybe Jerry Jones could convince Mike Zimmer to do it. But it’s best to leave McCarthy in charge and see if he can get the Cowboys two or three wins in this tough stretch.

“We’ve gotta keep working,” McCarthy said. “We’ve gotta stop the run and stay committed to the run for four quarters. Until we get that pattern working cohesively, we’re not playing to our strength. That’s a huge part of complementary football.

“We’re losing the turnover ratio week in and week out, and we’ve not been able to stop the run or stay committed to the run. That’s how we have to play and that’s how we’re gonna play. We need to be better at it.”