33 quarters

[Ojb81]

This is from November 15th.
It’s official: The officiating during Cowboys games is terrible

It is being talked about.

see? was that so hard? of course, I'd venture to say that until someone in an official media outlet takes this up and starts pressing the league, it's simply an ugly anomaly that "looks bad", but there's no malevolent, clandestine actions taking place against your team from Goodell as he sits in his darkened office, petting his white kitty, laughing diabolically; now, if this goes all the way to the end of the season, sure, maybe you guys might have something, but I'm guessing it will more or less even out. One of the comments is from an Eagles fan talking about how this reminded him of years back when Eagles fans screamed about Pete Morelli being out to get them because he was always reff'ing their games and "screwing them over", and I remember that, and I'm guessing there was as much validity to that, as there is to this.

 

[Eiknarflin]

I may be naive but I will never, ever believe in this type of conspiracy by the league when it comes to officiating. I just don't see any way there is any truth at all to this line of thinking that the league actually told the refs to not call penalties on us or to basically "cheat" against us by looking the other way. Think about it. The league is in a down turn. Imagine if this were true and got out (and if it were true it WOULD get out)...it would crush the league for years. Goodell may be a dick but he is not going to do this and even if he did the refs wouldn't listen to him.

That being said, i admittedly have no explanation for why there have been zero holding penalties. It doesn't even compute it's so statistically improbable.

I hear you, brother. I don't believe in conspiracy theories either. It bothers me when our own fans are constantly complaining about the officiating as if our own terrible play/coaching isn't the cause for our losses. Even in this case, a couple of holding calls per game wouldn't suddenly make us a playoff caliber team. We would likely still be exactly where we are right now because our offense isn't executing, our receivers aren't getting open, Dez can't seem to catch a ball if someone so much as touches his back, and Garrett has worse "deer in the headlight eyes" than Romo did when the game is on the line.

What makes this case so different is that there are hard stats available. No, there's no documentation from the League office calling for fewer penalty calls against Cowboys' opponents. But, do really believe that the guy who gave Zeke a six game suspension for domestic violence that is unprovable at best while giving the Giant's kicker a one game suspension when he openly admitted his domestic abuse is incapable or unwilling to influence the officiating?

 

[Eiknarflin]

see? was that so hard? of course, I'd venture to say that until someone in an official media outlet takes this up and starts pressing the league, it's simply an ugly anomaly that "looks bad", but there's no malevolent, clandestine actions taking place against your team from Goodell as he sits in his darkened office, petting his white kitty, laughing diabolically; now, if this goes all the way to the end of the season, sure, maybe you guys might have something, but I'm guessing it will more or less even out. One of the comments is from an Eagles fan talking about how this reminded him of years back when Eagles fans screamed about Pete Morelli being out to get them because he was always reff'ing their games and "screwing them over", and I remember that, and I'm guessing there was as much validity to that, as there is to this.

Ojb81, just ponder the stat: more than 8 games without a holding call. Ponder how impossibly unlikely that is. It doesn't just "look bad." It's horrible. Look at some of the videos on you tube where guys posting clips during the games.

Every game has non calls. I get that. Not every holding is going to get called. In fact, the reality is that few of them are. I wouldn't want it any other way because it would ruin the game to call even 1/4 of all the holding that goes on. I'm not just being a sorry-ass fan who is crying because an official missed a call or two. I've never complained about officiating except in the heat of a game. Once the game is over, I can be objective and point to obvious failures on Dallas players and coaches for their losses, and they are the big reason for our losses this year.

But the stats are hard to get around in this case.

 

[Ojb81]

Ojb81, just ponder the stat: more than 8 games without a holding call. Ponder how impossibly unlikely that is. It doesn't just "look bad." It's horrible. Look at some of the videos on you tube where guys posting clips during the games.

Every game has non calls. I get that. Not every holding is going to get called. In fact, the reality is that few of them are. I wouldn't want it any other way because it would ruin the game to call even 1/4 of all the holding that goes on. I'm not just being a sorry-ass fan who is crying because an official missed a call or two. I've never complained about officiating except in the heat of a game. Once the game is over, I can be objective and point to obvious failures on Dallas players and coaches for their losses, and they are the big reason for our losses this year.

But the stats are hard to get around in this case.

i guess only time will tell whether you guys are "onto something" or not. I say you're not. We'll see.

 

[jarntt]

What makes this case so different is that there are hard stats available. No, there's no documentation from the League office calling for fewer penalty calls against Cowboys' opponents. But, do really believe that the guy who gave Zeke a six game suspension for domestic violence that is unprovable at best while giving the Giant's kicker a one game suspension when he openly admitted his domestic abuse is incapable or unwilling to influence the officiating?

I agree and I know there are stats out there. I'll say it again. I find it almost very hard to accept that no holding penalties have been called against opposing OL in over 8 games. If you look at the history of the league it is statistically unbelievable, especially with a team with some good pass rushers to see something like this. I just don't understand it and I do attribute it to horrible officiating because every game I have seen holding penalties that should have been called. So I am with you on the issue even if I disagree on the root cause

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

Yep - I have a feeling the Skins will be the brunt of this. I actually thought the Chargers would be but nope. Do we have to mention Romo and a deer in headlights look though.? Lol

 

[R.J. MacReady]

I may be naive but I will never, ever believe in this type of conspiracy by the league when it comes to officiating. I just don't see any way there is any truth at all to this line of thinking that the league actually told the refs to not call penalties on us or to basically "cheat" against us by looking the other way. Think about it. The league is in a down turn. Imagine if this were true and got out (and if it were true it WOULD get out)...it would crush the league for years. Goodell may be a dick but he is not going to do this and even if he did the refs wouldn't listen to him.

That being said, i admittedly have no explanation for why there have been zero holding penalties. It doesn't even compute it's so statistically improbable.

Ratings are down, so what would the motive be to knock your ratings juggernaut out of the playoffs?
Goodell is not that mad at anybody. But the lack of a motive is not proof there is no crime.


It's odd that I happened to read this today. For the first time I have some doubt if everything is really on the up & up.

Take a look at the TD that was taken away from the Jets yesterday. They actaully overturned that TD.
There is ball movement and than there is losing control of the ball. It was not the latter.

It really makes me wonder when I see things like that.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

You have to look at everything in context.

What I would like to look at is how many holdings calls were called on those teams a couple of games prior to playing Dallas and a couple of games after Dallas.

This is where any disparity will stand out like a sore thumb.

And it might seem so suspicious if say half of those teams did not get a holding call the last 2 before Dallas. If that is possible.



.

 

[Eiknarflin]

Ratings are down, so what would the motive be to knock your ratings juggernaut out of the playoffs?
Goodell is not that mad at anybody. But the lack of a motive is not proof there is no crime.

In the mind of elitists, motives are very different. Elitists, like RG, aren't all about money, they are all about power. An elitist will be willing to lose the shirt off his back if it means cementing his authority over others.

 

[Eiknarflin]

You have to look at everything in context.

What I would like to look at is how many holdings calls were called on those teams a couple of games prior to playing Dallas and a couple of games after Dallas.

This is where any disparity will stand out like a sore thumb.

And it might seem so suspicious if say half of those teams did not get a holding call the last 2 before Dallas. If that is possible.



.

I don't have the time to go through all of that, and I'm not interested in doing it, either. I'll leave it for the journalists who are supposed to investigate and report on such things.

What I did do is look up each of the 8 teams that did not have an offensive holding penalty called against them when playing Dallas. Here are the stats:

LA Rams - 12 on the season
GB - 7 on the season
S.F. - 17 on the season
Was. - 13 on the season
K.C. - 19 on the season
Atl. - 15 on the season
Phi. - 15 on the season
LA Chargers - 7 on the season

What that means is that they range from an average .7 to 1.8 holds per game (actually, that percentage goes up a bit if you take the Cowboys game out of the equation since none of them were called for offensive holding in those games).

It is possible that any one of them could have a game without an offensive holding. What is so incredible, because of the statistically impossibility of the equation, is that all 8 of them could have no offensive call against them for the same team all in a row and that team happens to be the one embroiled in two separate issues with the commissioner.

 

[Manster7588]

see? was that so hard? of course, I'd venture to say that until someone in an official media outlet takes this up and starts pressing the league, it's simply an ugly anomaly that "looks bad", but there's no malevolent, clandestine actions taking place against your team from Goodell as he sits in his darkened office, petting his white kitty, laughing diabolically; now, if this goes all the way to the end of the season, sure, maybe you guys might have something, but I'm guessing it will more or less even out. One of the comments is from an Eagles fan talking about how this reminded him of years back when Eagles fans screamed about Pete Morelli being out to get them because he was always reff'ing their games and "screwing them over", and I remember that, and I'm guessing there was as much validity to that, as there is to this.

I'm a believer in it all evens out in the end, but EIGHT GAMES is more than just an anomaly, it's become a trend. I've seen a few holding calls on the Dallas OL that shouldn't have been called, then nothing on the other side?
I can't say Roger is behind this, but it has raised eyebrows.
In case you didn't notice Gil Brandt did tslk about it too.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

I don't have the time to go through all of that, and I'm not interested in doing it, either. I'll leave it for the journalists who are supposed to investigate and report on such things.

What I did do is look up each of the 8 teams that did not have an offensive holding penalty called against them when playing Dallas. Here are the stats:

LA Rams - 12 on the season
GB - 7 on the season
S.F. - 17 on the season
Was. - 13 on the season
K.C. - 19 on the season
Atl. - 15 on the season
Phi. - 15 on the season
LA Chargers - 7 on the season

What that means is that they range from an average .7 to 1.8 holds per game (actually, that percentage goes up a bit if you take the Cowboys game out of the equation since none of them were called for offensive holding in those games).

It is possible that any one of them could have a game without an offensive holding. What is so incredible, because of the statistically impossibility of the equation, is that all 8 of them could have no offensive call against them for the same team all in a row and that team happens to be the one embroiled in two separate issues with the commissioner.

This has gotten some notice.


Dallas Cowboys and penalties: Is the NFL conspiring against Dallas?

 

[Schmoopy1000]

This is from November 15th.
It’s official: The officiating during Cowboys games is terrible

It is being talked about.

you know I have seen a lot of what seems either BS penalties against us or ticky tack ones, while worse fouls on the other teams seems to get missed. I hate mentioning these things online since it seems all teams can usually claim this at some point in time. Just looks like whining & making excuses.
But this thread & this link makes things kinda interesting to my thoughts.
I dont think there is any outright conspiracies going on, but maybe subliminal that makes refs look a little harder at the boys. I remember Jerry Glanville teams always got more penalties than any other team, even though they probably werent any worse than the others. Definitely not that much worse!
it does happen in sports. Although with over 8 games of no holding penalties on the line in a game where there is a hold every single play (realistically) seems pretty far fetched.

On the defense of officials however, they all have really sucked & been inconsistent all year long.
But then again being consistently calling against the Cowboys for 8 games straight would raise a red flag, since they are typically inconsistent.

I am 100% on that they are not under orders to call against the boys. That I could never see happening.

Now that it is in print it will get interesting of the stories that follow. I wonder if it will gain traction outside of the Cowboy circles?

Either way the coincidence is astounding, which I am sure the NFL doesnt/wont appreciate.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Ratings are down, so what would the motive be to knock your ratings juggernaut out of the playoffs?
Goodell is not that mad at anybody. But the lack of a motive is not proof there is no crime.


It's odd that I happened to read this today. For the first time I have some doubt if everything is really on the up & up.

Take a look at the TD that was taken away from the Jets yesterday. They actaully overturned that TD.
There is ball movement and than there is losing control of the ball. It was not the latter.

It really makes me wonder when I see things like that.

actually I could see that play as not being a catch.

 

[Eiknarflin]

Here's a philosophical question on this subject...

Suppose someone in the league office is lurking on the hoop and sees this conversation. He takes our concern to RG and RG says, "Boy. I can sure see how this Eiknarflin fellow might think this is a conspiracy. Here's what we're going to do...

A. "Nothing, because we did nothing to cause it."
B. "Call up the officiating office and tell them to do their job better."
C. "Call up the officiating office and tell them to make sure they throw the flags for holding the next two weeks."
D. "Call up Jerry and apologize for obvious missed calls and assure him that there will be an investigation."

 

[Manster7588]

you know I have seen a lot of what seems either BS penalties against us or ticky tack ones, while worse fouls on the other teams seems to get missed. I hate mentioning these things online since it seems all teams can usually claim this at some point in time. Just looks like whining & making excuses.
But this thread & this link makes things kinda interesting to my thoughts.
I dont think there is any outright conspiracies going on, but maybe subliminal that makes refs look a little harder at the boys. I remember Jerry Glanville teams always got more penalties than any other team, even though they probably werent any worse than the others. Definitely not that much worse!
it does happen in sports. Although with over 8 games of no holding penalties on the line in a game where there is a hold every single play (realistically) seems pretty far fetched.

On the defense of officials however, they all have really sucked & been inconsistent all year long.
But then again being consistently calling against the Cowboys for 8 games straight would raise a red flag, since they are typically inconsistent.

I am 100% on that they are not under orders to call against the boys. That I could never see happening.

Now that it is in print it will get interesting of the stories that follow. I wonder if it will gain traction outside of the Cowboy circles?

Either way the coincidence is astounding, which I am sure the NFL doesnt/wont appreciate.

I too try not to complain about penalties because they do even out, and most of the complaints are with Homer glasses on.

The penalties have to be really one sided for me to take issue.
Too many times on this board fans scream at the unfairness of the refs, while our team was equally awarded with wrong calls.

The 8 games no holds is puzzling at least.

 

[Eiknarflin]

I agree with you, Manster. It is only during the heat of the game that I ever even mention bad officiating. These guys are human beings and they are going to make mistakes. And whenever my wife or one of my children start complaining, I try to remind them of the missed call that went for us earlier in the game. In fact, I did that repeatedly for the last 8 games.

But then I started seeing missed holding calls on Thanksgiving Day and started wondering, "When is the last time they threw a flag on Dallas' opponents for offensive holding?" I suspected it would be sometime the last game, so I did a search. It took a while and then I came across a video of a guy who was complaining after five games of no holding calls. (That poor guy might be about to blow a fuse by now - I hope somebody is checking in on him) It is now up to over 8 games.

Then I started doing some more checking and digging and found some rather significant stats that are hard to argue away as "Homer glasses on."

Has it occurred to anyone here that offensive holding has the most dramatic affect on the game?

Half of all touchdowns in the NFL that are called back are for offensive holding.
90% of all first downs called back are for offensive holding.
On the other side, the average time the qb has before needing to pass the ball is 3.7 secs. So a hold, while typically taking less than a second, actually increases the qb's time in the pocket by 28%.
A momentary hold makes the difference between a rb making 2 yards or 15.

The point is that holding is the one penalty that most dramatically and most consistently affects the turnout of the game. If anyone wanted to affect the way games turn out without it being so obvious, it's difficult to find a more effective way that avoid calling holds on one's opponents. To cover it up, he just needs to call a few other penalties during the game. Everyone is used to holding calls being missed; no one would stop to think: How long has it been since a holding call has been made on our opponent?

 

[UK Cowboy]

Ratings are down, so what would the motive be to knock your ratings juggernaut out of the playoffs?
Goodell is not that mad at anybody. But the lack of a motive is not proof there is no crime.


It's odd that I happened to read this today. For the first time I have some doubt if everything is really on the up & up.

Take a look at the TD that was taken away from the Jets yesterday. They actaully overturned that TD.
There is ball movement and than there is losing control of the ball. It was not the latter.

It really makes me wonder when I see things like that.

In what world is that not a catch? The Jets were screwed earlier this year against the Patriots as well

 

[UK Cowboy]

I'm a believer in it all evens out in the end, but EIGHT GAMES is more than just an anomaly, it's become a trend. I've seen a few holding calls on the Dallas OL that shouldn't have been called, then nothing on the other side?
I can't say Roger is behind this, but it has raised eyebrows.
In case you didn't notice Gil Brandt did tslk about it too.

Here's what I do know...if the Cowboys had not been called for offensive holding during that stretch, and their opponents had been called for an extra 1-2 a game, the Cowboys would have won a whole lot of those games. There were TD's and big plays called back for holding on Dallas during that same stretch

 

[UK Cowboy]

I agree with you, Manster. It is only during the heat of the game that I ever even mention bad officiating. These guys are human beings and they are going to make mistakes. And whenever my wife or one of my children start complaining, I try to remind them of the missed call that went for us earlier in the game. In fact, I did that repeatedly for the last 8 games.

But then I started seeing missed holding calls on Thanksgiving Day and started wondering, "When is the last time they threw a flag on Dallas' opponents for offensive holding?" I suspected it would be sometime the last game, so I did a search. It took a while and then I came across a video of a guy who was complaining after five games of no holding calls. (That poor guy might be about to blow a fuse by now - I hope somebody is checking in on him) It is now up to over 8 games.

Then I started doing some more checking and digging and found some rather significant stats that are hard to argue away as "Homer glasses on."

Has it occurred to anyone here that offensive holding has the most dramatic affect on the game?

Half of all touchdowns in the NFL that are called back are for offensive holding.
90% of all first downs called back are for offensive holding.
On the other side, the average time the qb has before needing to pass the ball is 3.7 secs. So a hold, while typically taking less than a second, actually increases the qb's time in the pocket by 28%.
A momentary hold makes the difference between a rb making 2 yards or 15.

The point is that holding is the one penalty that most dramatically and most consistently affects the turnout of the game. If anyone wanted to affect the way games turn out without it being so obvious, it's difficult to find a more effective way that avoid calling holds on one's opponents. To cover it up, he just needs to call a few other penalties during the game. Everyone is used to holding calls being missed; no one would stop to think: How long has it been since a holding call has been made on our opponent?

I saw where a reporter asked DLaw what teams are doing to slow him down. He said, among other things, they are holding a lot lol