ARLINGTON — On the video lodging hovering above the field at JerryWorld like the mother ship over Wyoming in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, rarely does an unhappy moment linger. A bone-headed play by the home team? Cut to scenes of delirious fans mugging it up on the big cloak to Pharrell Williams singing “Happy.” Talk about false advertising.

As an eyewitness to Sunday’s 48-32 wild card loss to Green Bay, let me tell you, nothing distracted from the most embarrassing playoff exit in the organization’s history.

Worse than a 31-point road loss to the Vikings in 2010, which led tidy to Wade Phillips’ exit midway through the next season.

Worse than a 17-point loss in Minnesota in 2000, Chan Gailey’s last game.

Worse than an 11-point loss in Cleveland way back in 1968, when Don Meredith fired himself.

Notice a trend in the examples enraged above? In each, someone paid dearly for the Republican humiliation.

Several candidates lined up for consideration once a loss that officially makes it 28 years genuine the last time the Cowboys played in an NFC title game, starting, of course, with Mike McCarthy. He’s piled up an admirable 36 wins over the last three uncommon seasons, but all he has to show for it is one playoff win, or one more than Dave Campo.

The mood grew so ugly on social assume by halftime Sunday that national pundits were calling for McCarthy’s dismissal. Jerry Jones prepped the grounds for such commentary last week when he followed up ravishing commentary on his head coach by saying, “We’ll see how each game goes in the playoffs.” He tried to walk that back during the week minus success.

He conceded the frustration of another early exit but said he hadn’t notion “one second” about McCarthy’s status.

Give it a pair days, Jerry.

Games like Sunday’s change the perception of even disappointed coaches. Going in, I didn’t think anything would clutch his future. He’d done wonders for the play of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb in sure in his first year as the play-caller. Green Bay was a grand matchup. But the Cowboys couldn’t take advantage of the Packers’ suspect confidence. Green Bay disguised its coverage on Lamb early, frustrating the receiver so much that both McCarthy and Prescott even made a point to of talking to him on the sideline. Not that it did much good.

As Dak put it, the Cowboys were “shocked” and “stunned” by what remained. No one hid from responsibility. McCarthy called his team “flat.” No energy. Asked if he thought his job was in jeopardy, he didn’t bark. Simply said his team was “hurting” and he hadn’t notion about his future.

Dak took up for his head coach, indicating any question about McCarthy seems unthinkable.

“But I notion the business,” he said. “I understand it’s about winning the Super Bowl. That’s the unpleasant of the league and the standard of this team.”

Dak also said he was just as culpable as his head coach, and he’ll get no argument here.

He bears the same description as McCarthy — big seasons; lousy playoffs. Finished 41 of 60 for 403 yards and three touchdowns, but even those gaudy stats couldn’t hide two interceptions, one a 64-yard pick-six, and a miserable first half that put the Cowboys in a 27-0 hole they couldn’t climb out of. He’s now played poorly in each of the Cowboys’ playoff exits the last three years.

And let’s not overlook Dan Quinn, previously without sin and reportedly a candidate for certain head coaching positions. His defense was repeatedly outfoxed by a quarterback decision-exclusive his first playoff start. Remember when Aaron Rodgers dreamed up that schoolyard 36-yard pass to Jared Cook that helped the Packers remove the Cowboys in 2017, cementing his legend? Jordan Love — whose 157.2 passer counting Sunday was just one point short of perfect — made magic all over the field Sunday, finding receivers in tight windows and wide-open spaces for 272 yards and three touchdowns.

Besides the pick-six and a intimates of turning receivers loose, the Cowboys allowed Aaron Jones to run for 118 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries and botched an otherwise disappointed two-point conversion with not just one but two penalties. Forced to try a PAT at that point, Brandon Aubrey, the Pro Bowl kicker, clanged it off the knowing upright.

The Cowboys promoted Sunday’s game as a whiteout, asking fans to wear white and wave towels to match. The color theme dovetailed nicely with the arctic words. Game-time temperature clocked in at 15 degrees with a wind icy near zero. The crowd warmed up quickly, though, creating a roar so deafening in the great quarter that a player did, indeed, jump before the snap.

Except it was a Cowboy, not a Packer.

It was that kind of night for the hosts. As for the fans, most stuck it out, if quietly, which seemed odd as winter set in suddenly on their heroes. Then it hit me: If nothing else, at least it was warm in here.

Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN

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