The Dallas Cowboys are playing for pride.
Hours before they kicked off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, the team were officially eliminated from playoff contention when the Washington Commanders beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the final seconds of their game.
Despite knowing their postseason streak would end at three seasons, the Cowboys still beat the Bucs 26-24 to bring their record to 7-8.
It was their fourth victory in their past five games, and one that drew an interesting question from NFL legend Chad Johnson.
Speaking on Nightcap, Ochocinco praised the Cowboys’ fight with ‘nothing on the line’.
“I like the fact they didn’t give up, I saw effort on both sides of the ball,” he told Shannon Sharpe.
“I wonder if tonight’s performance is enough to save Mike McCarthy’s job? That’s the question I have now based on what I saw.
“If you can play the way you played tonight, with all the injuries you have, what’s going to happen when you have a team that’s healthy?
“Why are you playing this hard tonight? Where was this fight, this type of effort when Dak (Prescott) was at quarterback? What are we doing? Why did we decide to play like this?”
A fourth win in five games marks an impressive turnaround for a team that looked dead and buried when their franchise QB went down with a season-ending injury in Week 9.
While the Cowboys have missed the playoffs, the mood around the team has shifted in recent weeks, and looks far more positive than it once did.
The future of Coach McCarthy, who is in the final year of his contract, remains uncertain. But it now seems more likely he returns next year than it did six weeks, or six months ago.
Sharpe, meanwhile, suggested that it’s not just McCarthy who has plenty hanging on the final weeks of the season.
“At the end of the year, people start playing for jobs,” he explained.
“Now I need to see who’s giving up and who’s still fighting. In the middle of the season, you play, you still have a chance.
“But now, this is when coaches, general managers and front office learn a lot about their players – when you have absolutely nothing to play for. Are you still getting a check, or are you cashing it in?
“Tonight, clearly by what you saw, the Cowboys are still scrapping, clawing and trying to do everything they can.
“Give the Cowboys credit, for a team that didn’t have anything to play for, to come out and give this sort of effort.”
Dallas face two tough opponents to end the season, going up against the playoff-bound Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field before finishing at home against the Commanders, who are also chasing a berth.
If the eliminated Cowboys can play spoiler those two games, then McCarthy’s chances of returning in 2025 will be further boosted.
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