Cowboys Firing Mike McCarthy? Sneaky Schefter Changes ESPN 'Sources' Report

Dallas Cowboys Firing Mike McCarthy? Sneaky Schefter Changes ESPN 'Sources' Report from Rumor

ARLINGTON - We have spent considerable time in this space roasting ESPN and other national media outlets for muddying the waters between a "rumor'' and a "report'' when it comes to the speculation about the possible firing of Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy.

After losing at home to the Green Bay Packers in a 48-32 blowout defeat in Sunday's NFL playoff opener, there might be slightly more clarity on the possibility, as owner Jerry Jones is in no mood to talk positively about the coach who he's been wildly support of in recent weeks.

“I haven’t thought about that,” said a "floored'' Jones after the debacle here at AT&T Stadium, surely fibbing just a tad. (By the time the Packers were up 27-0 early, surely Cowboys minds started to wander ...)

But also fibbing? ESPN NFL "insider'' Adam Schefter, who is now boldly "reporting'' that he has heard all along that McCarthy would be judged on the final game of the season - and that it was "sources'' who'd told him so.

Here's that tweet:

Throughout this season, sources believed Cowboys’ HC Mike McCarthy always would be judged by how Dallas’ last game of the season went.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 15, 2024

"Throughout this season, sources believed Cowboys’ HC Mike McCarthy always would be judged by how Dallas’ last game of the season went," he said.

Powerful stuff. And it would be viable, earn chest-thumping on Schefter's part, including the Bill Belichick "mystery'' angle, except for one thing: Schefter is subtly altering his "report.''

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Here's exactly how Schefter has always phrased it before this final score: "There continues to be a feeling from people around the league ... that coach Mike McCarthy will be measured by how Dallas' final game goes."

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"People around the league'' and "some people say''? Or "sources''?

The different is thin. But it matters. What Schefter is actually doing here is allowing himself to be emboldened by the loss in a way that he thinks permits him to jump out in front of the media pack.

This is yet another bad look for ESPN, but we will say this: Not even Sneaky Schefter can do anything as rotten as what McCarthy's Cowboys just did.