Mike McCarthy Shamelessly Blaming Cowboys Players to Save His Own Job

The Dallas Cowboys' disastrous first half of the season has finally taken its toll on head coach Mike McCarthy. The usually stoic McCarthy took his frustration out of his tablet on Sunday, smashing it on the sidelines during the game.

McCarthy losing his temper after a 3-5 start is certainly understandable. What is less forgivable, however, is his tendency to throw his players under the bus. After Sunday's loss to the Falcons, McCarthy did more of the same, blaming mistakes, penalties, and "self-inflicted wounds", per The Athletic's Jon Machota.

Cowboys News: HC Mike McCarthy Continues to Not Take Any Responsibility

Ever since he took the Cowboys job in 2020, McCarthy has been complaining about penalties. Even in his remarks, he mentions his frustration about the repetition of these pre-snap penalties.

At some point, it has to be on the coaching staff to minimize these mistakes. The fact that the team has the same issues week in and week out reflects poorly on the coaches.

Penalties are certainly a problem for Dallas. They rank second in the league in false starts with 16 and average almost eight penalties per game, one of the highest marks in the NFL.

At the same time, the Cowboys have much bigger problems. There have been multiple questionable play calls on Sunday, including one of the worst fake punt attempts in recent memory and a disastrous jet sweep for CeeDee Lamb on a fourth down.

Those plays have nothing to do with the players not executing well or making mistakes. Those are entirely on HC Mike McCarthy.

McCarthy is certainly feeling the heat. He is already on an expiring contract, and it's getting harder to imagine him staying past this season. As a result, he is desperately trying to convince everyone that he is not to blame. Whether that is working on Jerry Jones remains to be seen.

More Cowboys news and rumors: