Getty Mike McCarthy
Word to the wise: avoid labeling Mike McCarthy a gambler. The Dallas Cowboys‘ grizzled head coach made clear he prefers aggressive risk-taker.
“I don’t believe in gambling,” McCarthy told reporters Thursday, before referencing the bar his family owned in Pittsburgh. “We had two poker machines in the bar. I saw a lot of people lose a lot of money on those machines.”
Crazy-not-stupid is the mantra of which McCarthy has governed himself as an NFL coach and play-caller. He’s the type to try for two when down nine in the fourth quarter, rather than settle for the ordinary extra point. Sometimes it works, and he’s the hero. Sometimes it doesn’t, and he’s the goat.
McCarthy is, and always will be, true to his nature; he’s the same now at 56 as he was at 46, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in Green Bay. Neither adversity nor analytics, nor anything in between, can rewrite his football DNA.
It’s this same nature that gives Dallas a punching chance Sunday when his 1-1 squad goes toe-to-toe with the 2-0 Seattle Seahawks and early MVP frontrunner Russell Wilson. And when facing an opponent that’s averaging 36.5 points per game, on the road no less, McCarthy doesn’t see the point in dressing up an obvious plain-clothes strategy.
“We want to score as fast as we can, and as many times as we can as far as the start of the game and throughout the game,” he said Thursday, via Pro Football Talk.
Translation: The Cowboys aren’t coming to CenturyLink to keep Wilson off the field. They respect the NFL’s current passing touchdowns (9) leader, who threw for 322 yards in Week 1 and 288 yards in his Week 2 takedown of the New England Patriots.
They acknowledge that Seattle owns the second-best scoring offense and sixth-best passing unit (287 yards per game). They can appreciate the Seahawks not requiring much from their rushing attack, and that Wilson doesn’t need a rushing attack to thrive. He siphons targets to his variety of weapons: DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Greg Olsen, and Chris Carson when applicable.
It isn’t a case of disrespecting an opponent. Instead, it’s self-sustaining confidence in his plays, his personnel. McCarthy brings with him to battle a group that erased a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit, that boasts the league’s third-leading passer in Dak Prescott and his trio of game-breaking wide receivers.
It’s a case of merely knowing who you’re playing and the requisites to beating them. If the Cowboys move to 2-1, Dak will have outdueled Russ, and McCarthy outsmarted Pete Carroll. It would mean the silver and blue offense doesn’t take its foot from the gas pedal, except to nurse a late lead.
Of course, by that point, it’s a good reason — the only reason — for McCarthy to shift into third nature.
“Hopefully we’re in that same situation,” he said.
Follow the Heavy on Cowboys Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content!