33 quarters

[Eiknarflin]

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

That's a good point, UK. And I wonder if that is the scenario that played out if everyone would have the same opinion as they currently do. Mathematically, it would be more likely that a single team doesn't get called for holding against eight separate teams than for eight separate teams not to get called for holding against the same team.

But I bet that if that happened, especially to the Cowboys, people would be clamoring for an investigation and boycotting the NFL until the corruption was admitted and someone fired.

Instead, we have far fewer people concerned (it's not happening to their team, after all) and the ones that are concerned are a bit underwhelmed by the impossibility of the statistic.

Fellas, we are talking astronomical probabilities here. Vegas could give ten million to one odds on this and make a killing. But, nothing to see here. No corruption. Just something that happened, like that fully functioning Boeing 747 that was built by a tornado passing through a junkyard.

 

[jarntt]

Somebody has to be in last and other teams are right with us. Doesn't seem too bad overall. Plus if you exclude holding penalties I'm guessing we are above the other teams in all other penalties. From the link above it hardly seems a conspiracy. I can only assume it's accurate:

First let’s look at the number of penalties for the Dallas Cowboys. Going into the game on Sunday the Cowboys had 53 penalties called in favor of them. Now the Cowboys sit at 56 with three other teams at 57.

My issue with the holding penalties is they always seem to be in huge spots for us. They always bring back a big play for us when called (Frederick on the 2 pt conversion, Witten and T Smith on big runs, etc) or allow the other team to get off the field when not called. But, I guess that is kind of how holding calls are.

 

[Eiknarflin]

As I said before, holding calls/noncalls have a larger impact on the game than all the other penalties. If someone were to attempt to influence the game without being too noticeable, the surest way to do so is to not call holding on that team's opponents but be willing to call other penalties.

Plus, not calling penalties on a team for one game doesn't have a dramatic affect on that team's total number of penalties for the season. Kansas City, for example has 19 holding penalties called against them on the season. Dallas has 20. That doesn't look too far out of balance. That's because KC didn't have any holding calls in one game only.

A more fair comparison would be to look at the total number of holding calls against Dallas and the total number of holding calls against Dallas' opponents. That's the shocking number: 19 - 4

 

[Eiknarflin]

BTW, I'm not questioning whether or not Dallas should have 19 holding calls against them. I can only think of one holding call on Dallas that I thought was questionable, but that's a case where things really do even out. We have gotten away with some holds that have not been called.

What I don't agree with is that things can possibly even out when no holding calls were made at all on our opponents 8 games in a row. There were obvious holds that any objective fan must admit. The TD the Chargers scored early in the 4th quarter when Dallas still had an opportunity to win the game had a blatant hold that was not called. That non-call had a definite impact on the game and cannot be evened out now.

I'm not saying we would have won that game, but there's no way to know either, and there is no way to even it out now that it's done. The evening out of penalties can only be done in the individual game, not over the course of a season.

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

Demarcus Lawrence recent said the reason he was slowed down the past two games is holding and no calls. Lets be real: the chargers were not stupid, they knew teams were getting away with it and they held on every snap knowing they would get away with it. Look for teams to keep doing this against us.

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

BTW, I'm not questioning whether or not Dallas should have 19 holding calls against them. I can only think of one holding call on Dallas that I thought was questionable, but that's a case where things really do even out. We have gotten away with some holds that have not been called.

What I don't agree with is that things can possibly even out when no holding calls were made at all on our opponents 8 games in a row. There were obvious holds that any objective fan must admit. The TD the Chargers scored early in the 4th quarter when Dallas still had an opportunity to win the game had a blatant hold that was not called. That non-call had a definite impact on the game and cannot be evened out now.

I'm not saying we would have won that game, but there's no way to know either, and there is no way to even it out now that it's done. The evening out of penalties can only be done in the individual game, not over the course of a season.

The way I see it there is a conspiracy. The play you reference was an example. The chargers clearly violated the rules and the refs ignored it. When an offensive lineman jumps on someone's back they had to have seen it

 

[es4m11]

My issue with the holding penalties is they always seem to be in huge spots for us. They always bring back a big play for us when called (Frederick on the 2 pt conversion, Witten and T Smith on big runs, etc) or allow the other team to get off the field when not called. But, I guess that is kind of how holding calls are.

The thing with holding calls is they could probably be legitimately called on 75% (maybe more) of all plays. It's at the ref's discretion to pick and choose the most egregious plays to call, obviously. Outside of pass interference, holding calls are usually the most devastating, and as you have noted are usually drive killers for the Cowboys or drive extenders for opponents. Considering all but the most egregious holding penalties are extremely subjective the refs have built in plausible deniability when it comes to called/missed holding penalties. All that said, I don't consider the idea that the NFL league office has instructed officials not to call offensive holding in favor of Dallas on either side of the ball too far fetched. Just tweaking this one aspect of officiating would give opposing teams a HUGE advantage, even if they called the rest of the game even. Considering the fact that opposing offensive lines haven't been called for holding in over 8 games, and our offensive line is getting flagged to death, this situation is quite fishy if you ask me.

 

[es4m11]

Finally!! The refs called holding on an opponent!

 

[Eiknarflin]

Finally!! The refs called holding on an opponent!

Yes, they did! Finally!!

It did take several egregious holds to get them to do so, however. There was one play early in the 1st quarter where Irving came up the middle and the tackle reached out to grab him and momentarily grabbed his facemask.

There were several others where guys (sometimes two at one time) wrapped arms around our d-linemen.

On the flip side, I also saw several obvious holds by Dallas that weren't called either.

Bottom line: they took our complaint away by calling one offensive line holding and not calling Dallas on several. The officiating was better this game, but not great, for either team.

I will say that the second PI on Dez was thrown for something that was much less than what has happened to Dez in the past several games. IMHO, I think that one should have been a non-call.

 

[Manster7588]

Yes, they did! Finally!!

It did take several egregious holds to get them to do so, however. There was one play early in the 1st quarter where Irving came up the middle and the tackle reached out to grab him and momentarily grabbed his facemask.

There were several others where guys (sometimes two at one time) wrapped arms around our d-linemen.

On the flip side, I also saw several obvious holds by Dallas that weren't called either.

Bottom line: they took our complaint away by calling one offensive line holding and not calling Dallas on several. The officiating was better this game, but not great, for either team.

I will say that the second PI on Dez was thrown for something that was much less than what has happened to Dez in the past several games. IMHO, I think that one should have been a non-call.

I saw that too. Early I was livid at a hold I've seen called on Dallas multiple times, then a few plays later Collins got away with the same thing

 

[jarntt]

I think we are looking a little too closely at this now. But the holding penalty was declined so we still haven't technically had a holding penalty on an opposing OL for 9 plus games now, right?

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

I think we are looking a little too closely at this now. But the holding penalty was declined so we still haven't technically had a holding penalty on an opposing OL for 9 plus games now, right?

I was wondering when this would be mentioned.

 

[jarntt]

Certainly the side judge that threw those two flags for PI in the end zone didn't get the memo that the refs were supposed to be against us...

 

[Eiknarflin]

I think we are looking a little too closely at this now. But the holding penalty was declined so we still haven't technically had a holding penalty on an opposing OL for 9 plus games now, right?

Not at all. My concern wasn't that we hadn't accepted any offensive holding calls, but that 0 were even called.

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

Certainly the side judge that threw those two flags for PI in the end zone didn't get the memo that the refs were supposed to be against us...

I actually thought the second one was iffy. I've seen a lot worse not called. Tough night for Breeland. I said it earlier that we are a bad match up for them. I swear I have watched them 7-8 times this year. They play hard. Breeland, Fuller, Norman are good 3some of CBs. I know we didn't throw for many yards but there were some key plays that they had a chance to get off the field and they couldn't.

 

[jarntt]

I actually thought the second one was iffy. I've seen a lot worse not called. Tough night for Breeland. I said it earlier that we are a bad match up for them. I swear I have watched them 7-8 times this year. They play hard. Breeland, Fuller, Norman are good 3some of CBs. I know we didn't throw for many yards but there were some key plays that they had a chance to get off the field and they couldn't.

yeah, I think both were a little iffy to be honest, but they were called.
They are pretty good. How many of their WRs were wide open last night and how often were ours? Seemed every pass we threw was contested

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

yeah, I think both were a little iffy to be honest, but they were called.
They are pretty good. How many of their WRs were wide open last night and how often were ours? Seemed every pass we threw was contested

I thought Dez beat Breeland bad on one of those 3rd downs when it was 24-14. Then Williams beat Norman too. Williams was covered well on the play though. It was a really good throw.

Our DBs were really good I thought until Cousins had the drive where he went about 9/9. Heck last year it seems like he completed about 40 passes against us but still lost. The thing about last night is no Reid or the RB that is the recieving threat. I will say Doctson is getting better and Crowder is really good. I know he fumbled and costed them an INT but he is tough to handle. Not sure who was covering Davis, but I'm not sure he was even targeted