Coach Rankings: Unfair Trashing Keeps Cowboys' McCarthy Out of Top 10?

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has posted a 24-10 record over his last two seasons at the helm. Why isn't that good enough?

There was a moment in time where Mike McCarthy was discussed among the NFL's best head coaches. 

After leading the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl victory in 2010 and a 15-1 regular season in 2011, in the minds of many, McCarthy began inching closer toward the Tomlins and the Harbaughs and maybe even the Belichicks.

However, after continued postseason disappointments and a 4-7-1 start to the Packers 2018 campaign, McCarthy was fired after Week 13. 

Now, three seasons into his Dallas Cowboys tenure, the longtime coach has overseen plenty of regular-season success - posting back-to-back 12-win campaigns - but has won just one playoff game over that span.

CBS Sports recently ranked McCarthy as the No. 19 best head coach in the NFL heading into 2023, below the Miami Dolphins' Mike McDaniel and above Kevin Stefanski from the Cleveland Browns. 

"It takes more than just an elite QB to oversee 10 different double-digit winning seasons across two teams, so McCarthy deserves more credit than he gets," CBS Sports writes. "What keeps him from the upper echelon here is the recent crunch-time resume: an old-school play-caller with a conservative bent, he hasn't guided any of his elite rosters to an NFC title game appearance since 2016."

McCarthy's lack of postseason success, especially with the caliber talented rosters he's had, is a talking point. But ... he's posted a 11-10 playoff record over his 17-year NFL head coaching career. That puts him on a very short list of active coaches who've a) won double-digit playoff games and b) have winning records in the postseason. (Bill Belichick, Andy Reid and John Harbaugh are the other three.) 

Meanwhile ... Two men ranked above McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings' Kevin O'Connell (No. 17) and Carolina Panthers' Frank Reich (No. 16), comparatively have combined for three playoff-game appearances over eight seasons - notching a 1-2 record over their careers. 

And one more thing: This "conservative play-calling'' thing: Dallas in the last two years (with McCarthy overseeing now-dismissed play-caller Kellen Moore) has actually boasted one of the most high-flying offenses in the NFL, with a most recent playoff win (at Tampa) highlighted by a 24-0 lead early in the third quarter, four Dak Prescott TD passes, 425 passing yards and 31 points ... that could've been more had Dallas not opted to nurse that fat scoreboard edge.

Hey, it has been a long time, not only for McCarthy, but for the entire Cowboys organization, since legitimate postseason success. And we know the only thing that will quiet the doubters is the hoisting up of the Vince Lombardi trophy. But between now and then? 

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You can find Riley Sheppard on Twitter @RileyDSheppard

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