The slandering of Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy has gone too far

I admit it. I fell for the hard count and got drawn off sides.

Rushed unimpeded to the quarterback. Flag on the play.

I should of known better. But damn it, I could not help. it.

It’s the NFL offseason. Some media outlets are looking for content to drive readers and engage viewers.

The more provocative, the more controversial, the better.

I fell for the banana in the tailpipe when the 33rd Team and Ross Tucker put out their recent list, ranking all the NFL coaches.

And I’m certainly no Mike McCarthy apologist.

But the blatant disrespect for what he has done as coach with the Dallas Cowboys the past three years and during his tenure with the Green Bay Packers, which included a Super Bowl title in 2010, must stop.

It’s downright silly.

It’s borderline criminal to have McCarthy listed as the 21 best coach in the NFL — or 11th worst, depending on your perspective.

McCarthy is 20th all-time in NFL history in coaching wins with 155 in 16 years and only eight coaches with more wins have a better all-time winning percentage than his .614.

Yet, according to this ranking, McCarthy is the 21st best in the NFL among active coaches in 2023.

That’s horse manure.

The list stars out well enough with Super Bowl champion coach Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs and seven-time champion Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots taking the top two spots.

Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers is third. Based on his history, that makes sense. Things begin to get interesting with Sean Payton coming in fourth.

Payton is back with the Denver Broncos after sitting out a year following a long tenure with the New Orleans Saints. He and McCarthy are essentially the same guy record wise, winning one Super Bowl with a future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Yet, Payton is considered a genius and McCarthy is a guy who couldn’t win again with Aaron Rodgers.

But this is just the beginning of the McCarthy slander that has gone too far.

The real crimes come with Nick Sirianni of the Philadelphia Eagles ranked fifth and Brian Daboll of the New York Giants ranked eighth.

Sure, Sirianni took the Eagles to the Super Bowl last season with the league’s best record. He’s only been coaching for two years and has a 23-11 career mark. He is also coming into the 2023 without both of his coordinators from the team that lost the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Daboll has coached one season and was 9-7-1 in 2022. How the hell is he in the top 10, let alone above McCarthy?

The comedy has just begun, however. And it’s too much to list it all.

But consider these highlights of other notable coaches listed above McCarthy.

Mike McDaniel of the Miami Dolphins is 14th. He has coached one season and has a 9-8 record. But he wears nice sneakers.

Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings is 15th. Sure, O’Connell went 13-4 in his first season as coach. Of the four losses, only one was at home — a 40-3 massacre by McCarthy and the Cowboys.

Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions was 16th with a 17-28-1 record in two seasons. Arthur Smith was 18th, despite going 14-20 in two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.

There is no use going any further. Because none of if it makes sense.

Not only is McCarthy one of the all-time winningest coaches in NFL history, but he has led the Cowboys to back-to-back 12-win seasons for the first time since they won three Super Bowl titles in four years in the 1990s.

The only coach that has won more games than McCarthy’s 24 with the Cowboys over the last two seasons is Reid at 26 with the Chiefs.

McCarthy led the Cowboys to a 12-5 in 2022 despite losing his starting quarterback for five games at the start of the season with a fractured thumb.

McCarthy should get credit for not only keeping the Cowboys in contention but going 4-1 with a backup quarterback.

That includes four straight wins over the Cincinnati Bengals and coach Zac Taylor, who ranks 12th on the list, the aforementioned Daboll and the Giants, the Washington Commanders and Ron Rivera, who ranks 19th, and the Los Angeles Rams and Sean McVay, who ranks seventh.

An argument can made that McCarthy should be in the top five. There is no question he should be in the 10.

But for him to be ranked 21st is a bunch a mess.

Call it the Cowboys tax.

A player or coach can get too much credit or too much criticism because of the spotlight that comes with the star on the helmet.

There is no question that McCarthy is heading into the 2023 likely coaching for his future in Dallas because of it.

Not only do the Cowboys need to make the playoffs for a third straight year for the first time since 1990s but they need to make a legitimate run towards their first Super Bowl title since 1995 for him to keep his job.

The history of disappointments over the last 27 years ain’t on him but those are facts.

That is different than this ranking that is the equivalent of “a clown show bro”.

The McCarthy slander has to stop. It has gone too far.