There’s never anything boring in Big D and this season has no shortage of it. The Dallas Cowboys are in for another offseason full of uncertainties. Despite the double-digit winning seasons, the team is once again in trouble and out of the playoffs sooner than fans (and Jerry Jones presumably) would like. The playoff woes have fans crying out for change and a revamp that could end the decades-long drought. After all, this is not just any franchise, it’s America’s Team and time is ticking more in Dallas.

And so in comes Jerry Jones, the guy, the myth, the Stetson-wearing enduring optimist. It’s been potluck time again from the Cowboys’ provocative owner who knows how to keep the focus on his team. Jones recently teased fans will have a big say in what the Cowboys do next — which is marketing jargon and Jerry-ness. “We listen to our fans because they’re the heartbeat of this team,” Jones said recently in an interview. Translation? There is probably a bullet already dropped on head coach Mike McCarthy, based on how high the fans fly.

McCarthy, meanwhile, is doing what he can to stay on task. Speaking on 105.3 The Fan’s pregame show before what could be his swan song in Dallas, McCarthy reflected on his time with the Cowboys. “I’ve definitely been reflecting on a lot of things,” he said. “But this is about beating Washington right now. That’s my responsibility. That’s what I’m focused on.” Old school “next man up” stuff, but you get the feeling McCarthy’s playing his last games as the Cowboys head coach.

More interesting, McCarthy’s contract is up on January 14. That is just one more deadline that makes Jerry Jones’ decisions all the more rushed. Will the Cowboys keep McCarthy, or use the break to start over with a new head coach? It is in no way too early and the stakes are as great as a Hail Mary in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter.

From Lombardi glory to Dallas drama

Mike McCarthy’s list is no laughing matter. Coach to Super Bowl championships for the Green Bay Packers, when he was hired in 2020 in Dallas, he was credible and experienced. It was at the time an apt hire: a former champion coach coaching a team in search of another great run. And even though McCarthy has had regular-season success, with two straight 12 wins, his legacy in Dallas is playoff failure.

McCarthy, who threw a fourth-quarter pick-six, has had more questions than a quarterback in his time since taking over. His failure to smash the glass ceiling in the postseason, a fact that’s beset the Cowboys since their last Super Bowl title in 1995, is one of the things critics say should bother him. And second place is the first loser in Dallas, where football is a faith and expectation is sky-high.

In the NFL in 2010, Mike McCarthy was proof that he had ice in his veins as the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV. The Packers came in as a scrappy 10-6 sixth seed and became the first NFC team there to claim the Lombardi Trophy. Oh, and Aaron Rodgers? He took home MVP glory, but hey, who put the show together? McCarthy doesn’t always get the biggest press but in 2010 he pulled off the ultimate mic drop’s another Sunday in the NF.

Yet when the Cowboys’ front office decides what to do, do fans know McCarthy will be the latest coach who just failed to deliver? Will Jerry Jones reinvest more of his money in McCarthy or will he gamble on a new play-caller? “We’re just gonna weigh everything and see what is the best option for the Dallas Cowboys,” Jones added. In the NFL, and Dallas more specifically, nothing is predictable, only the unknown.

The thing is: McCarthy remains – or not – no one is done with the Cowboys’ story. And for Cowboys Nation that’s just another Sunday in the NFL!