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Mike McCarthy Has Blunt Response To Cowboys' Playoff Schedule

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy brushed off concerns that his team will enter Sunday's matchup against the San Francisco 49ers having had two fewer days to prepare.

The Dallas Cowboys opened their postseason with an emphatic victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night, building an 18-0 lead by halftime and cruising to a 31-14 win.

But some around the NFL are doubting that the Cowboys will stand much of a chance when they face the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. 

That has more to do with a decision by the league than the performance of the team.

Dallas fans and others around the NFL, including former head coach Tony Dungy, are upset that the Cowboys' game against the Bucs kicked off more than two days later than the 49ers' matchup with the Seattle Seahawks, giving the home team an additional 52 hours or so to prepare for this week's divisional showdown.

The game between the 49ers and Cowboys, the last of the four contests this weekend, is slated to kick off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was asked his thoughts on the matter on Tuesday. McCarthy had an honest response.

"TV is king," McCarthy said, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.

"TV is king," McCarthy said, per Gehlken. "What are you going to say? ... It's not a concern. We've got plenty fo time to get ready. We're not stressed about it at all."

McCarthy went on to say that he's "not stressed" about having a short week compared to the 49ers, although he joked that his players will be "grumpy" due to a lack of sleep.

The quote from McCarthy illustrates some perspective that is often missing in the NFL, an implicit acknowledgment that television revenue is the reason he and the majority of his players have been paid millions of dollars during their football careers. It's little surprise that the television executives wanted the matchup between the Cowboys and Tom Brady on Monday Night Football.

The good news for the Cowboys is that the only previous team to play a Monday night Wild Card game, last year's Los Angeles Rams, beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road the following Sunday. The Rams, of course, went on to win the Super Bowl.

The Cowboys will look to repeat history Sunday, and make their first NFC Championship game since 1995 in the process. The 49ers are currently favored by 3.5 points, per DraftKings.