FRISCO, Texas – A 3-3 start, through what Mike McCarthy calls the first trimester of the season, isn't something to be pleased with for the Dallas Cowboys. But history shows that McCarthy's teams have a way of figuring things out coming out of the bye week.
As a head coach, McCarthy is 12-5 in games immediately following the break and 3-1 during his tenure with the Cowboys with the lone loss coming to Green Bay 31-28 in overtime in 2022. In those four seasons, Dallas finished the regular season with a combined 25-13 record. Clearly, the process pays off.
"The format and the filters are very similar to the past, but every year is different, this year is definitely different than some prior years." McCarthy said.
With that comes some tweaks to how the Cowboys attacked their extra week of preparation for the rest of the season. One of the main issues that needed to be addressed has been getting on the same page, most notably for Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. To remedy that, McCarthy is looking to do more things together, as opposed to apart.
"We're doing a little more of group-oriented [work]," McCarthy said. "I feel like we need to improve the connection and understanding because of our inexperience and youth in some of the areas."
So much of self-improvement and self-scouting, a large part of what the Cowboys have emphasized this past week and all season, comes in watching games back and not just looking at bullet points for improvement.
"Ten years ago, I felt that there was an epidemic of PowerPoint coaching," McCarthy said. "We really spend a ton of time making sure our players see a tremendous amount of video in the structured meeting time together… we need more group because our connection between position needs to be higher."
A strategy McCarthy has used to foster both foster connections between positions and develop has players has been across the hall meetings. It's a format where, for example, quarterbacks and receivers will meet with secondary coaches, offensive lineman will meet with defensive coaches, etc. to get another set of eyes on tendencies as a group and individuals.
"I think it's real important for all of us to hear common language, common concepts, but come from a different voice, come from a different perspective," McCarthy said. "Across the hall has always been very beneficial."
When you hear things over and over again from a position coach or coordinator, sometimes the ideas may get lost in the shuffle. That fresh voice is where McCarthy feels his players get the message.
"It's human nature, if you hear it from somebody else, it just carries more weight." McCarthy said.
Last week, McCarthy talked about how he felt his team practices hard, but that there's a difference between practicing hard and practicing well. The Cowboys clearly haven't been practicing well enough to this point in the season, which has led to McCarthy tweaking the practice regimen. The biggest emphasis goes back to working as a group and a team to try and tackle problems wholistically.
"Line movement has been constant, you start two rookie offensive linemen week 1, [opponents] have been stunting us since we got off the bus," McCarthy said. "We've been practicing it, but obviously it's not enough so that's something we got to really focus on."
Dealing with stunts and twists up front is just a portion of what Dallas will hope to improve on in practice this week, starting with a meeting-heavy day on Monday and a state of the union type of address from McCarthy, who couldn't have been more excited for it all.
"It's a day as a coach you love, it's self scout, self improvement, self discipline…" McCarthy said. "I've been here the whole week preparing for this."
The Cowboys now embark on their second trimester of the season, which will also feature three games at home and three on the road. It all starts on Sunday night against San Francisco with Dallas looking to snap a three-game losing streak to the 49ers.
