The Dallas Cowboys are not changing coaches. Can they change their mindset?
"America's Team'' fans are tired of the same story at this point, yet it keeps repeating itself over and over again. ... and to many critics, the Jerry Jones decision to retain coach Mike McCarthy fits into that category.
After another great regular season, the Cowboys once again came up short in January, this time losing to the Green Bay Packers in humiliating fashion. Many Cowboys fans thought that this year would be different, but alas, the end result is more pain.
At this point, it's clear that there's a problem in the organization - right? - but no one seems to know exactly what it is. However, Hall of Fame defensive end Charles Haley, who won three of his five Super Bowls with the Cowboys, believes the issue isn't due to talent, but rather due to mentality.
"That's their problem. They believed they were better than the Packers and they didn't go out and beat the Packers, because you believe one thing and create another thing," Haley told CBS News Texas. "I've never been around a coach that didn't hammer that through about winning, winning, winning. That has to be an attitude no matter what.
"And what most of these guys must have done is, they must've had too much pressure put on them, but it's just a game. When you look at playoffs, Super Bowl as just a game, there is no pressure. And I think that was one of the things that was hammered home from [former San Francisco 49ers coach] Bill Walsh that always impacted my life and I've been spreading that down ever since."
Haley, 60, is far from the first to say that the Cowboys' mindset is a problem. However, hearing it from a player who trails only Tom Brady in number of championships holds a bit more weight.
As the team with the largest fanbase in the NFL, and one that hasn't won a Super Bowl in decades, there is always an immense amount of pressure on the Cowboys when the playoffs roll around. Pressure can be a good thing, but too much of it can easily backfire. Looking at the difference in how the Cowboys play in the regular season and the postseason, it could very well be them cracking under the pressure.
The Cowboys must figure out how to overcome that pressure if they ever want to get back to championship glory, but that is much easier said than done.
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