The Dallas Cowboys are facing off against the Los Angeles Chargers in a highly anticipated Monday Night Football matchup. Many fans are extremely upset with Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy for his questionable clock management at the end of the first half.
Dallas got the ball back with 58 seconds remaining in the first half with one final chance to go into the second half with the lead.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott led an impressive drive down the field and got the Cowboys into field goal range, with the chance to even score a touchdown.
Dallas got into the red zone following a pass from Prescott to star running back Tony Pollard with just eight seconds remaining. At the time of the completion, they had two timeouts with the clock rolling from the completion in bounds.
McCarthy could have called a timeout in order to give the Cowboys another chance at a touchdown. Instead, he opted to wait to call the timeout until three seconds were remaining in the quarter, settling for a field goal chance that was made by Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey.
Com esse field goal no estouro do relógio, o Dallas Cowboys vai para o intervalo na liderança!#DallasCowboys 10 x 7 #BoltUp
📺: #DALvsLAC | @ESPNBrasil pic.twitter.com/wnWl6nyQ9M
— NFL Brasil (@NFLBrasil) October 17, 2023
Fans took notice of McCarthy’s conservative clock management and blasted him on social media for not at least attempting one more pass before kicking the field goal.
so with 8 seconds left and 2 timeouts Mike McCarthy really told the ref he didn’t want to call a timeout until 3 seconds so he could settle for a FG????? pic.twitter.com/33IPGVpyE7
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 17, 2023
MIKE MCCARTHY WENT OUT OF HIS WAY to convince the refs to wind the clock from :08 to :03, WITH AN EXTRA TIMEOUT LEFT, so he would have no choice but to kick the FG.
What on earth are we doing here???
— nick wright (@getnickwright) October 17, 2023
Mike McCarthy’s clock management continues to be terrible…
Why would you not take another chance at a touchdown? Don’t get it.
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) October 17, 2023
Mike McCarthy. Dude.
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) October 17, 2023
everytime we believe mike mccarthy is good at clock management pic.twitter.com/O4GfpF1KnG
— Annie Agar (@AnnieAgar) October 17, 2023
take a minute to watch that mike mccarthy clock management disasterclass pic.twitter.com/QaaEbklgco
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) October 17, 2023
This decision not to call the timeout earlier by McCarthy clearly shows that he doesn’t have much trust in this Cowboys offense and in particular Dak Prescott.
Regardless, the Cowboys went into the half with a 10-7 lead, but this decision could come back to bite the Cowboys later on in this game.
