Mike McCarthy regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth.
And he would later try to walk them back.
But in the age of the internet and social media to go along with the platform as being coach of the Dallas Cowboys there are no take backs or do overs.
His words will live on forever.
So here we are one year later revisiting the seen of the crime because as we all know if you don’t learn from history you are doomed to repeat it.
And as the Cowboys head into Monday’s wildcard playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the latter simply can’t happen
It’s still mind-boggling that not only did it happen the first time but that the Cowboys coach admitted it publicly.
In explaining the slow start in last January’s shocking 23-17 home loss to San Francisco 49ers in the wildcard playoffs, McCarthy said the Cowboys were nervous and he sensed it during the pregame prayer.
“I thought we were nervous to start the game. I felt it in the locker room at the team prayer,” McCarthy curiously admitted in the season-ending press conference the following day.
He tried to walk it back as angst.
“Let me take the word ‘nervous’ back,” he qualified. “It was a little angst. I think just like anything, they’re excited, they had a great week. I just think it was the first time we were doing this as a whole.”
Too late.
The damage was already done.
So fast forward year as the Cowboys prepare to play their first playoff game since then.
The natural question heading into the Tampa Bay game is what has been done to ensure they won’t be nervous this time.
“I think like anything in life: experience is a good thing,” McCarthy said. “We know how to prepare to beat a team. We know how to go on the road and win. So we understand what’s in front of us. So I think just like anything whether we had angst going into our first playoff game last year or not, we have that experience. And I think just like anything we just got to make sure our information during the course of the week and what we’re pulling in, how we’re applying it, how we’re evaluating it, cleaning it up — because at the end of the day it’s all about giving those players what they need to win the game on Monday night.”
Much of that falls to McCarthy.
It’s his job to get his team ready and prepared so they wont be nervous heading to a game.
And if he senses it, he damn sure can’t let his team walk out of the locker room without addressing it.
The contrast between the Cowboys and 49ers before the game last year was stark.
San Francisco walked on the field with swag, led by a player holding a boom box and rest of the team bopping their head to the beat.
The sheepish Cowboys walked out on eggshells, at home no less.
It’s little wonder they gave up a touchdown on the opening drive and fell behind 13-0, which proved to be too much for them to overcome when the clock ran out on their potential last-second comeback.
McCarthy pointed out that one way to give yourself a better chance for playoff success is to repeatedly get there which allows you to be more comfortable and confident.
The Cowboys followed last seasons 12-5 mark with an identical record in 2022. It’s the first time they have have back-to-back 12 win-seasons since 1992-1995 when they won three Super Bowl titles in four years and the first time they have made consecutive trips to playoffs under the same coach with the same schemes and systems on both sides of the ball since 1998-1999.
Give McCarthy credit for getting his team back.
This is a different task.
The Cowboys haven’t won a road playoff game since 1992 and they have never beaten Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, who is 7-0 all-time against Dallas, including a 5-0 record in New England and 2-0 the past seasons in Tampa.
But this is no longer a new experience.
“We’ve been in this position,” safety Jayron Kearse said. “It’s a lot of a lot of guys on this team that was on that team last year. We know what it feels like when you go out there and you don’t play your best and you allow the team to gain some confidence. We’ve been here before we know what it takes.”
“Last year was a part why we’re so confident going into it this year,” Kearse added. “For the simple fact that we’ve been through it. We know what it takes. We understand that if we don’t take care of business how it could end. I don’t think anybody on this team wants to feel that same feeling from last year.”
They are more comfortable, confident and ready.
McCarthy believes as much.
“The reality of the game of football, no different from life, you’re much better prepared through your failures than your successes,” McCarthy said. “Chalk it up as experience we can move forward with.”
No take backs.
