Mike McCarthy Explains Why He Didn’t Rest Cowboys Players

The Dallas Cowboys had already clinched the NFC East division title and a spot in the playoffs going into Saturday’s regular season finale with the Philadelphia Eagles. However, head coach Mike McCarthy opted to play his starters for a majority of the game anyway.

The Cowboys (12-5) trounced the Eagles (9-8), who opted to rest many of their own starters with a spot in the playoffs already secure, 51-26. Dak Prescott was masterful in just over three quarters of action, throwing a career-high five touchdown passes in the rout.

Although the performance should give the Cowboys plenty of momentum heading into the postseason, McCarthy still needed to answer why he left his starters on the field for so long. He explained that he’s tried it both ways in the past but that he wanted his players to get into a rhythm this year before their first playoffs together.

“The rhythm and timing going into the playoffs, we talked about going that into the week,” McCarthy said, per Pro Football Talk. “I’ve rested players, I’ve not rested players, but we felt where we were as a team, first year in the playoffs, it was important for us to play.”

Luckily for McCarthy, the Cowboys avoided any significant injuries on Saturday night and managed to gather some momentum at just the right time. Dallas will now await the results of Sunday’s games to see who its first-round opponent will be.

McCarthy revealed that regardless of opponent, his staff has already started to do some work on potential opponents.

“We find out who we play tomorrow and the coaches have already done the forecasting work,” McCarthy said after the game. “We’ll be ready for the players on Monday.”

Dallas can climb as high as the No. 2 seed depending on the outcomes on Sunday. No matter what, the Cowboys will host a playoff game at AT&T Stadium during Super Wild Card weekend.

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