A few thoughts:
Dak:
I'm not going to make any excuses. The game speaks for itself. He needed to win that game at the end & didn't get it done. Had the ball, with timeouts, with a chance and they didn't score. I have gone bacc and forth w/ ppl on here about Dak. So I deserve whatever shyt ppl wanna throw out about him. He let me down in this one. It was there for the taking. I am not blind to what he is and what he isn't. But you can win w/ him, I do still believe that. But at this point it just needs to go out and be proven.
Defense:
They overachieved most of the season. They came back to reality yesterday. Everything the "experts" said about the physicality and bully ball came true. We wasn't ready up front. That's not on DQ or the players, it's on the front office. No real resources spent on the interior, relying on crackheads like Gregory. That gets you in this kind of situation. There is a lot of upgrading needing to be done on defense that was masked by all the turnovers they forced this year.
I would be fine with showing Tank, LVE and Gregory the door. Massive overhaul needed up front.
Run game/offensive line:
The death of the run game destroyed this offense. The death of the run game is directly tied to the politics involved in continuing to make Zeke the focal point. Pollard is obviously the better option at this point, it's clear as day. But even still, the running game is broken. The offensive line needs a complete overhaul. The fact of the matter is given the current state of the line, Pollard at this stage can do more with less and give you a better chance at success.
Biadasz and Williams are just too soft to play on a line that is gonna beat a team as physical as SF. Look at KC in the SB last year -- they got bully balled by the Bucs. They went out and cleaned house in one draft. You can see why Williams was bullied as a kid. They need to go. Tyron's replacement needs to be drafted but if he wants to come back he will be brought back. There's really no immediately better option.
Coach:
I don't understand how you have a coach with an offensive background who wants nothing to do with calling the offense. Broaddus is spot on with his point on McCarthy that he should have stepped in to fix the offense. The fact that he didn't and continued to let KM trot this shyt out is an indictment on him as an "offensive" head coach. Either he's too lazy or too stupid to know what to do. But if he's not calling the offense than what does he do? He can't manage the clock, continues to make bonehead decisions. Jerry hired him thinking he was getting another Andy Reid. That obviously isn't the case. I don't see Jerry firing him after year 2 so it's a moot point. But even if he did, why do you trust Jerry to hire the replacement? It would probably just be Moore. We need to pray that Moore gets hired elsewhere and McCarthy lucks into a creative OC hire like he lucked into getting DQ. This offense was not utilized to its fullest potential. The creativity is lacking - there's no scheming to get guys open. No pre-snap movement. It's Garrett's offense with a little window dressing. You can see the difference when watching this team against Kyle Shanahan - everything the Niners do looks EASY. He schemes opportunities for players, he makes the game look easy for them and for his QB. He dominates you with a sixth round pick at RB. That's the opposite of this Cowboys offense where everything looks like its a struggle and you need to string together 10 perfectly executed plays just to move the ball down the field. This offense was broken since Denver. It's bigger than any one player or person. It was broken from top to bottom. That is ultimately on MM and KM to figure out and they never did. Someone needs to be held accountable for that.
My biggest problem above all with McCarthy is the loser mentality of blame. Say what you want about Garrett but I don't recall him outright blaming the refs like this. And I never remember Dak or other players on the team coming out and outright talking reckless on the refs even when it was warranted. I believe this mentality comes directly from the head coach. He is in the locker room perpetuating this idea that they got jobbed by the refs and the players take that viewpoint out to the public. The lack of accountability is crazy and it starts up top.
Special Teams:
I can't have Zuerlein on my roster for another season. No more discussion needed. He has to go. Fassel is clearly a good ST coach but he thinks he's too smart for his own good. He needs a HC to pull back the reins on some of the dumb shyt he tries to do. Maybe McVay did that and that's why he left LA? McCarthy seems to give him the keys to do whatever the fukk he wants. He obviously elevated the ST unit but the cutesy shyt gotta go.
OVERALL:
I don't agree with the idea that the window is closed or closing. This team overachieved and played above its head for a lot of the year. There's A LOT of opportunity for upgrades in both talent and cultural fit. There are positions (DL, Safety) that need dedicated resources committed to them either in the draft or FA rather than just trying to patchwork shyt together year after year. There are other spots (OL) that just need to be overhauled because whatever we were trying to do or trying to build there ain't working. We need more young, hungry dogs. Period. And they are out there. McClay got his money so he needs to be in his bag this draft.
There. Just had to get that off my chest