After Jimmy Johnson is honored, Mike McCarthy nearly disgraces the Dallas Cowboys

Shortly after Jerry Jones swallowed his pride and ego to put Jimmy Johnson into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor, he might have thrown up both in the waning moments of the game against the Detroit Lions not because of his old head coach but his current one.

What current Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy did in the final minutes of his team’s tight win over the Lions should demand a trip to the principal’s office. Maybe a hunting trip to Arkansas; “Two go out, but only one comes back.”

McCarthy did everything in his power to give away a win his team fought to earn.

It wasn’t fireable, but Jerry would be well within his rights to demand an explanation with the following reminder: “I fired the guy I just put into the Ring of Honor.”

Lions coach Dan Campbell bailed out McCarthy, as did the officials.

The final score says the Cowboys defeated the Lions 20-19. The game was exciting, and watching Jimmy go into the Ring of Honor with a “How ‘bout them Cowboys?!” for the fans at AT&T Stadium was irresistible nostalgia.

McCarthy nearly destroyed all of that with late-game coaching decisions that should require a breathalyzer. If McCarthy took one after the game, it might have shattered into 53,314 pieces.

There is no other explanation.

Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson’s interception with 2:05 remaining in the game should have ended the night. The Cowboys led 17-13, and had the ball at the Detroit 29-yard line.

The Lions had two timeouts, and all the Cowboys had to do was drain the clock and settle for a Brandon Aubrey field goal.

That’s when Magic Mike went to work.

On the first play from scrimmage, the Cowboys were penalized 15 yards for tripping, which erased running back Tony Pollard’s 7-yard run. That penalty was a wrench.

On second down, quarterback Dak Prescott threw a deep pass for Brandin Cooks that fell incomplete. The play call, and execution, allowed the Lions to save a timeout the Cowboys had to force them to use.

“We’re trying to put it away. You call plays you feel good about,” McCarthy said after the game. “The penalty on first down, I gotta see it. I’m trying to get into striking distance on third down is all I’m thinking about.”

His kicker can make a kick from 65 yards. The priority is to drain the clock under a minute, and the Lions without a timeout.

The Lions used their last timeout before Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey made a 43-yard field goal to push the Cowboys lead to seven points.

The Cowboys had used 15 seconds after their “game-ending” interception. In this scenario, the Lions should have regained possession with zero timeouts and about one minute remaining.

When the Lions regained possession at their own 25, there was 1:41 remaining. Lions quarterback Jared Goff ended the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown with 23 seconds left.

At this point, Lions coach Dan Campbell pulled another “YOLO.” He called for the 2-point conversion attempt, and the win. The Lions have 11 wins, won their division, and Campbell is the most popular man in Detroit since Henry Ford; why not go for it?

This is where things get lost “in the fog of football.”

Before the 2-point play, Lions left tackle Taylor Decker looked to report to the official as an eligible receiver. Somehow, the officials confused Decker for tackle Dan Skipper.

They are both giant white dudes, so these things happen.

Goff’s 2-point pass was caught by Decker for the apparent lead; the officials took the points off the board because Decker “wasn’t eligible,” and he was flagged for “illegal touching.”

Skipper said after the game he said nothing to the officials. Campbell looked at the pool report explained by the head referee, and crumpled the paper in his hands.

The Lions kept at it, and ultimately did not convert the 2-point conversion, thus saving Mike McCarthy from a horrendous work week, and a three-game losing streak.

The Cowboys should finish 12-5 for a third consecutive season under McCarthy, assuming they win next week against a bad Washington team. The Cowboys still have a shot (not a good one) to win the NFC East.

McCarthy is a good coach and the Cowboys are a good team, but he has a history dating back to his days in Green Bay of questionable/weird decisions that warrant scrutiny, and criticism.

The record says the Cowboys beat a good Lions team at home, and finished the regular season with a perfect record at AT&T Stadium.

The same record won’t show they got away with one on Saturday night because their head coach went for cute rather than the boring route of draining the clock.