Mike McCarthy is an offensive coach. In his 30 years in the NFL, he’s held all sorts of labels, from offensive quality control coach, quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator and, his longest held title, a head coach who also serves as play caller.
So, it was notable when he was asked Oct. 9 what the identity of the Dallas Cowboys offense is, McCarthy shined the spotlight on the other side of the ball.
“I just think it’s a matter of who you want to be and who you think you are,” McCarthy said. “I coached a team for a lot years that was offensive driven. But this team is about defense, let’s make no bones about it. That’s not a slight against the offense. We want to score as many points as everybody and we’re not playing not to lose. Don’t mix the message here. We play to our defense. That’s the strength of our team.”
Those words from McCarthy came less than 24 hours after the Cowboys’ defense laid a giant egg in San Francisco, giving up 42 points. In that game, the Cowboys’ offense was also inept, only scoring 10 points but McCarthy’s assigned pecking order made it clear what the engine of the 2023 Cowboys is.
In the Cowboys’ 43-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, McCarthy’s perspective was reinforced.
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