Mike McCarthy’s motivational tool for Cowboys in playoffs is just sad

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy used an unusual method to motivate his team for their Wild Card matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Dallas hasn’t won a road playoff game in 30 years, and the Cowboys players are now very aware of that. The Cowboys enter the NFL Playoffs as a dark horse pick to make it out of the NFC, but to do so they’ll have to accomplish a feat they haven’t done in three decades.

Rather than avoid the topic altogether, Mike McCarthy has opted to steer into the skid. In an odd choice of a motivational technique, McCarthy went into the way-way back machine and found some baby picture. Yes, really, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter:

“This past week, Cowboys’ HC Mike McCarthy showed his team the baby pictures of the only 10 players on its roster who were alive the last time Dallas won a road playoff game, Jan. 17 1993.”

Sadly, Schefter’s tweet did not include the baby pictures.

Will the Cowboys defeat the Buccaneers on Monday?

Dallas has the edge, despite playing on the road at Tampa Bay. They’ll have to conquer their demons to defeat Tom Brady and the Bucs.

McCarthy has insisted that his team is “ready to go” and that the long week wasn’t necessary, but should provide Dallas with an advantage.

“I think the way they practiced yesterday, and the work that we’re going to get done today, this time of the year you wanna get up and go play,” McCarthy said. “That’s part of it, but I really think you have to work smart. It’ll cost you most by doing too much instead of not enough, but that’s clearly not the case this week. That’s why how we spaced out Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was important.”

Jerry Jones has confirmed that McCarthy will be back next season, regardless of the result on Monday night.