Mike McCarthy is about to sink the Cowboys without Kellen Moore

March 2, 2023 ndowd

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy unveiled what he’s going to do with the offense that former coordinator Kellen Moore couldn’t.

Another year, another early playoff exit for the Dallas Cowboys. This has become the norm since the 1995 season for the Cowboys, and it happened once again after losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round, which was a winnable game for them. They have 19 unrestricted free agents and are over the salary cap threshold as of this writing. But one of the first things the Cowboys did since their playoff elimination was overhaul the coaching staff. The biggest change was parting ways with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, with McCarthy taking over play-calling duties. Moore is now the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers.

At the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday, McCarthy spoke about his time with Moore and signaled one thing that he will do differently as offensive play-caller, and that’s “run the damn ball.” The quote comes courtesy of The Athletic’s Jon Machota.

Mike McCarthy spoke highly of his time with Kellen Moore. He said the Cowboys former OC did a hell of a job and continued to improve over the last three years. But it’s clear they had their differences. This quote from today explains some of that pic.twitter.com/GXueydVzTA

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) March 1, 2023

Mike McCarthy wants to ‘run the damn ball’ as play-caller of Cowboys offense

McCarthy said that while he relates to Moore for wanting “to light the scoreboard up,” he stressed the importance of the running game to make sure his defense is rested. That, and he said he doesn’t want to have the top offense, he wants to be the best team with wins and a title.

Last season, the Cowboys ran the football 531 times last season, which ranks sixth-most in the entire league. They averaged 135.2 yards per game (ninth in NFL) and 4.3 yards per carry (18th).

The Cowboys do have important decisions to make at the running back position, ironically, as McCarthy stresses the importance of the running game. Tony Pollard, who had an incredible season and was their best running back option on the roster, is an unrestricted free agent. That, and he is recovering from a broken left leg and a high ankle sprain suffered in the Divisional Round against the 49ers.

Then, there’s Ezekiel Elliott, who averaged just 3.8 yards per carry (876 yards on 231 carries) this past season. Elliott is scheduled to be paid $10.9 million in base salary and count for $16.72 million against the cap in the 2023 season. While Jerry Jones said that he wants Elliott back in 2023, executive vice president Stephen Jones said he’s open to it, but only if it works financially. So, it will remain to be seen if there will be a contract restructure in the cards for Elliott and the Cowboys.

Cowboys fans, things are going to be a bit different on the offensive side of the football with McCarthy calling plays.

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