Cowboys' Mike McCarthy has important lesson to learn from Dan Campbell despite criticism to Lions HC
Chances are, if you tuned into the NFC Championship Game between the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers, you at least formed an opinion on head coach Dan Campbell's fourth down decisions, which have become the most controversial topics in the NFL world. Well, the way I see it, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike […]
Chances are, if you tuned into the NFC Championship Game between the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers, you at least formed an opinion on head coach Dan Campbell's fourth down decisions, which have become the most controversial topics in the NFL world.
Well, the way I see it, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has a big lesson to learn from Campbell and I might not be going where you think I am.
You see, I'm not talking about McCarthy's decision-making on fourth down. Humor me for a second here.
The thing is I don't disagree with Campbell's decision to be aggressive and go for it. Now, I'm not saying I'll pound the table over it or die on this hill, but I do believe the math justified such calls so I'm fine with them.
But mostly, I am fine with Campbell going for it because that's who he is. That's the identity of the Lions. It's those kind of decisions that got them one win away from a trip to the Super Bowl.
And boy, oh, boy, it's a mindset that has worked, too! Leading up to the game, Campbell was the head coach who had the highest win probability added over expected to his team among the remaining NFL teams per Sumersports, meaning his coaching decisions had boosted the Lions' win probabilities by 93.1% over the course of the entire season.
When asked about his thought process, Campbell didn't cite numbers or math, though. He just kept it real and revealed it was a decision he made with his gut, something he's been doing all year long.
"I just felt really good about us converting," an emotional Campbell told reporters. "It's easy in hindsight, I get it. But I don't regret those decisions."
McCarthy's lesson from NFC Championship Game
So what exactly does any of this have to do with the Cowboys' Mike McCarthy? It may sound ironic if we just consider the end result over the process, but Campbell staying true to his self in the biggest stage is something that resonated with me.
Why? Because against the Green Bay Packers, McCarthy did the exact opposite. He stopped doing everything that had worked for the Cowboys up to that point, deviating from the style of offense they had been dominating the league with.
When the lights were brighter than they'd been all season long, the Cowboys insisted on running the ball. The gameplan failed to feature OPOY finalist CeeDee Lamb and motion was nothing but a distant memory.
The offense versus the Packers more closely resembled what Dallas had done prior to the bye week, the original "Texas Coast" type offense more than it did what was labeled as many as the "Here We Go!" offense.
As someone who has harped on the Cowboys and McCarthy for such a mediocre approach to the playoffs, I not only can't criticize the Lions head coach but I actually respect it.
McCarthy knew what had gotten the Cowboys to the second seed in the NFC yet he coached scared. Campbell didn't. And while it didn't work out well for the Lions on Sunday, the process shouldn't be overlooked. Not to mention, the Lions' loss did take place in a game the Cowboys haven't been to in almost 30 years now.
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