Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered a vote of confidence to head coach Mike McCarthy after his team's record fell to 7-9 with a blowout Week 17 loss

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy says he wants to hold off on talking about his and his staff's future until after Sunday's season finale.

The Athletic NFL writers Mike Jones, Ted Nguyen and Dan Pompei share their thoughts on all of these storylines and more. There is plenty of buzz that the Cowboys locker room wants Mike McCarthy back — is that a good idea or a bad idea for Dallas?

The Eagles (13-3) clinched the NFC East and the NFC’s No. 2 playoff seed with their blowout win against the Dallas Cowboys (8-8) Sunday. The Birds won without Jalen Hurts, who was out due to the lingering effects of a concussion that knocked him out of last week’s loss to the Washington Commanders.

Interestingly, the Dallas Cowboys have lost only two games since festivities began and leftovers percolated refrigerators across the country. The Cowboys lost to the Cincinnati Bengals a few weeks back and recently to the Philadelphia Eagles.