The Dallas Cowboys have been a successful regular season team for the past two decades. They have compiled 183 total wins during this range of ranking inside the top ten, one place behind Kansas City Chiefs And one spot in front Philadelphia Eagles. Of course, regular season success doesn’t mean much if a team is struggling in playoff time. And rest assured, the Cowboys are indeed struggling. Dallas has gone 4-10 in the playoffs over the past 20 years with a 28.6% winning percentage, which puts them in fifth place in the standings.
The team once again embarks on an overseas journey trying to find the missing piece to their puzzle. They’ve made trades on both sides of the ball to help improve their passing play, and have drafted a player in each of the first six innings who all play essential roles in the running game.
While the team has addressed roster weaknesses, they have also made a major coaching change in which Mike McCarthy will now take over calling plays in place of the recently departed Kellen Moore. There are a lot of different feelings about this change ranging all over the place. Some appreciated what the younger Moore had done while others were tired of him. Wherever you stand with that, that’s a McCarthy crime now, and we’re about to see how that plays out.
Before the answers start to reveal themselves, we thought it would be helpful to look at some numbers and gauge how good he was at Green Bay, how good the Cowboys have been over the same time, and where the offensive struggles have been for both teams. the years. To get things started, let’s take a look at the Green Bay Packers Offensive DVOA dating back to 2006 when McCarthy first started calling plays for them (Statistics from outside football). We’ve also included team records and the number of games a starting quarterback has played in.
DVOA Offense of the Year
year | a team | register | DVO | rank | playcaller | quarterback | Games played |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
year | a team | register | DVO | rank | playcaller | quarterback | Games played |
2022 | Green Bay Packers | 8-9 | 6.7 | 11 | Matt Lafleur | Aaron Rodgers | 17 |
2021 | Green Bay Packers | 13-4 | 20.2 | 2 | Matt Lafleur | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2020 | Green Bay Packers | 13-3 | 29.1 | 1 | Matt Lafleur | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2019 | Green Bay Packers | 13-3 | 6.6 | 8 | Matt Lafleur | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2018 | Green Bay Packers | 6-9-1 | 11.2 | 7 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2017 | Green Bay Packers | 7-9 | 0 | 16 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 7 |
2016 | Green Bay Packers | 10-6 | 16.6 | 4 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2015 | Green Bay Packers | 10-6 | 2.7 | 11 | Tom Clements | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2014 | Green Bay Packers | 12-4 | 25.2 | 1 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2013 | Green Bay Packers | 8-7-1 | 8.5 | 10 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 9 |
2012 | Green Bay Packers | 11-5 | 19.6 | 3 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2011 | Green Bay Packers | 15-1 | 34.2 | 1 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 15 |
2010 | Green Bay Packers | 10-6 | 11.9 | 7 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 15 |
2009 | Green Bay Packers | 11-5 | 19.4 | 5 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2008 | Green Bay Packers | 6-10 | 7.5 | 11 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2007 | Green Bay Packers | 13-3 | 16 | 5 | Mike McCarthy | Brett Favre | 16 |
2006 | Green Bay Packers | 8-8 | -5 | 20 | Mike McCarthy | Brett Favre | 16 |
As you can see, McCarthy has a pretty decent resume of success calling plays for the Packers. In his 13 seasons with the Packers, he called plays in 12 of them with the only exception being in 2015 when Tom Clements took over. Clements’ offense posted a 2.7% DVOA which is the third-worst offense during that span, bested only by McCarthy’s first year at Green Bay and in 2017 when Aaron Rodgers missed more than half the season. In those other 10 seasons, McCarthy’s offense finished 11th or better than all of them, including six years in the top five.
We can also see that Matt Lafleur has finished 11th or better in all four of his seasons with Green Bay including 1st and 2nd in 2020 and 2021 respectively. You could make the argument that Aaron Rodgers has a lot to do with that, but at the same time LaFleur is seen as one of the best callers in the NFL, so judge accordingly.
During that same 17-year period, how did the Dallas Cowboys offense fare? lets take alook.
DVOA Offense of the Year
year | a team | register | DVO | rank | playcaller | quarterback | Games played |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
year | a team | register | DVO | rank | playcaller | quarterback | Games played |
2022 | Dallas Cowboys | 12-5 | 2.8 | 15 | Kellen Moore | Duck Prescott | 12 |
2021 | Dallas Cowboys | 12-5 | 13.6 | 6 | Kellen Moore | Duck Prescott | 16 |
2020 | Dallas Cowboys | 6-10 | -8.5 | 24 | Kellen Moore | Duck Prescott | 5 |
2019 | Dallas Cowboys | 8-8 | 24.5 | 2 | Kellen Moore | Duck Prescott | 16 |
2018 | Dallas Cowboys | 10-6 | -6.3 | 24 | Scott Linehan | Duck Prescott | 16 |
2017 | Dallas Cowboys | 9-7 | 6.6 | 10 | Scott Linehan | Duck Prescott | 16 |
2016 | Dallas Cowboys | 13-3 | 20.2 | 3 | Scott Linehan | Duck Prescott | 16 |
2015 | Dallas Cowboys | 4-12 | -15.8 | 30 | Scott Linehan | Tony Romo | 4 |
2014 | Dallas Cowboys | 12-4 | 17.2 | 5 | Bill Callahan | Tony Romo | 15 |
2013 | Dallas Cowboys | 8-8 | 7.2 | 11 | Bill Callahan | Tony Romo | 15 |
2012 | Dallas Cowboys | 8-8 | 6.2 | 12 | Jason Jarrett | Tony Romo | 16 |
2011 | Dallas Cowboys | 8-8 | 5.9 | 12 | Jason Jarrett | Tony Romo | 16 |
2010 | Dallas Cowboys | 6-10 | -5 | 22 | Jason Jarrett | Tony Romo | 6 |
2009 | Dallas Cowboys | 11-5 | 21.8 | 3 | Jason Jarrett | Tony Romo | 16 |
2008 | Dallas Cowboys | 9-7 | 1.7 | 17 | Jason Jarrett | Tony Romo | 13 |
2007 | Dallas Cowboys | 13-3 | 17.4 | 4 | Jason Jarrett | Tony Romo | 16 |
2006 | Dallas Cowboys | 9-7 | 12.2 | 6 | Todd Haley | Tony Romo | 10 |
A walk down memory lane tells us a lot of things we already know. Jason Jarrett, Scott Linehan, and Kellen Moore were exceptional at times, but also completely terrible when Tony Romo or Dak Prescott got hurt. Not lost that a healthy Kellen + a Dak was so awesome.
Compiling the data and ranking the top 10 offensive performances gives us the following…
DVOA’s 10 Best Offensive Deals
year | a team | register | DVO | rank | playcaller | quarterback | Games played |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
year | a team | register | DVO | rank | playcaller | quarterback | Games played |
2011 | Green Bay Packers | 15-1 | 34.2 | 1 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 15 |
2020 | Green Bay Packers | 13-3 | 29.1 | 1 | Matt Lafleur | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2014 | Green Bay Packers | 12-4 | 25.2 | 1 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2019 | Dallas Cowboys | 8-8 | 24.5 | 2 | Kellen Moore | Duck Prescott | 16 |
2009 | Dallas Cowboys | 11-5 | 21.8 | 3 | Jason Jarrett | Tony Romo | 16 |
2021 | Green Bay Packers | 13-4 | 20.2 | 2 | Matt Lafleur | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2016 | Dallas Cowboys | 13-3 | 20.2 | 3 | Scott Linehan | Duck Prescott | 16 |
2012 | Green Bay Packers | 11-5 | 19.6 | 3 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2009 | Green Bay Packers | 11-5 | 19.4 | 5 | Mike McCarthy | Aaron Rodgers | 16 |
2007 | Dallas Cowboys | 13-3 | 17.4 | 4 | Jason Jarrett | Tony Romo | 16 |
This list includes a few of each person who shows off the McCarthy attack the most with four of them appearing on this tenth list. Of course, he has anywhere from two to three times as long as calling the plays as these other players so that seems reasonable.
Research into this data tells us that there is no reason to believe McCarthy would not be good at calling plays. must be. At the same time, the Cowboys have shown no real lack in their ability to call plays either, other than their obvious struggles when the starting quarterback goes down. Although the Cowboys have had offensive success in the past, they still struggled. McCarthy was brought to Dallas to overcome that hump, and even with two consecutive 12-win seasons, he fell into the same revolving trap others before him succumbed to.
Scope results this story goes nowhere from mccarthy’s slump like his last days in green bay when Rodgers would ignore McCarthy’s plays rather than his own To where that great offensive reveal was in Dallas. And even if he does turn things around, this team has to perform when it really matters to mean anything. McCarthy alone power The resurgence came in 2010 when the Packers finished the season 10-6, but turned around in the playoffs. Of course, a little good luck didn’t hurt because they were on the right side of three playoff games decided by one score or less.
It’s very likely that if Brent Celek hadn’t gone out of bounds here, Mike McCarthy wouldn’t have made it to the Super Bowl. Sometimes, the only thing separating the idea that something is great or fruitless is a few inches. pic.twitter.com/s5KvKzsba4
– Dan Rogers (@DannyPhantom24) June 3, 2023
The Cowboys got answers in September-December, and while McCarthy’s games may help them improve, the challenge remains what they can do in January. Unless that changes, it won’t be any different from other players.