Play-Caller Mike McCarthy Cowboys Biggest 'Red Flag'? Silly Criticism

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has called plays before during his career and led the Packers to a Super Bowl victory, yet there are still doubts over his play-calling ability. Why?

FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is now his own offensive play-caller, something he did to good effect as he led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl victory in 2010.

Yet, despite that, some sections of the media doubt McCarthy's ability to take this current Cowboys offense back to the summit of the NFL.

McCarthy has the skins on the wall as a play-caller, an offense in the upper echelon of teams for points scored, and weapons in CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Michael Gallup and Tony Pollard for Dak Prescott to utilize ... all working behind an offensive line featuring blue-chip talent.

Still, CBS Sports.com has labeled McCarthy calling plays as Dallas' "biggest red flag" entering next season. ... and we will be frank about this: The good folks at CBS are simply wrong.

CBS Sports writes: "Though he probably deserves more credit for guiding back-to-back 12-win seasons, his older-school, oft-conservative tendencies could surface to a greater degree now that he's directly in charge of Dak Prescott and Co."

"Probably deserves more credit''? The smart money here - or at least the plan as we know it from inside The Star - is that McCarthy taking over the play-calling duties is in part about Dallas wanting be more efficient on offense. Less risk-taking? Probably. Less put on Prescott's shoulders with a willingness to get more physical with the running game? Probably.

But is McCarthy "conservative''? His Packers drew that criticism after their rare losses. But in general, his Green Bay offenses should be remembered as some of the most consistently explosive in NFL history. And these Dallas offenses have been much the same as a product of McCarthy and Moore working together.

We've said from the start that McCarthy has been the best play-caller at The Star since the day he walked into the place. Now - with no disrespect to Moore - he gets to run things his way, with a West Coast Offense-based attack that nobody ever called “conservative” when Bill Walsh ran it.

Again, it worked in Green Bay as McCarthy had his Packers offense in the top five in scoring in seven seasons, which included having the No.1 ranked offense in football (2011 and 2014).

McCarthy also had double-digit winning seasons seven times, and of course, he has that Super Bowl win. 

Does all of the above constitute having him calling plays as a "red flag"? We’re here to explain that it’s quite the opposite. … because of all the components that make up what’s being called the “Texas Coast Offense,” Mike McCarthy as the play-caller is the most accomplished, the most proven and the least “red-flag”-deserving of all.

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