Who do we blame? Who do we blame? TOO MANY PENALTIES

by 325424 on Nov 2, 2008 10:19 PM CST Comment 24 comments

This team appears to have lots of problems. Some may go away as the injury list gets shorter. One problem that can't be blamed on injuries is the incredible amount of penalties that Jerry's Team keeps racking up. It's easy (and popular) to blame Wade, but the problem pre-dates him and his no-penalty contract. It was a problem under Parcells even though he didn't coach penalties (or coach players not to make penalties). Maybe Campo coached them? I don't know where the problem started, but I can't see an end to it.

There are some things endemic to this team that suggests we will have more penalties than the average team. Heck, we have three specific penalties named after us: The Roy Williams Rule / Horsecoller, the Marian Barber Rule / Stiff arm to the face/neck and the Flozell Adams Rule / False Start. Even if we acknowledge that Flo is partially deaf and will jump once a game (at least), we are still generating too many penalties.

How does a team get this penalty disease? How does it survive from one coaching regime to another? I know its popular to blame Wade and soft coaching, but Parcells was anything but soft and he had the same problems. I have no idea what causes this, what it takes to fix or who to blame. So I will just blame it on Jerry, as I do most things...

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Forgot the Terrell Owens rule

concerning TD celebrations.

Come and whisper in my ear, give us dirty laundry - ESPN

by Nelson... on Nov 2, 2008 11:00 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Flag Football Anyone?

~Texas Massacre 08~

by TheHeat on Nov 3, 2008 12:33 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

The Flo extension was a mistake

There was no right way to go about it, because he did have a great year last season-but he is an aging player, and without the carrot on a stick of another contract looming, he’s not playing as hard. You can blame it on injuries as well, but he’s not hustling to the extent he was in the past. I hate to say this, but he’s going to become the new Roy, with everyone lamenting his downfall from elite status and wondering why we are still paying him like a superstar.

by Conjunction on Nov 3, 2008 7:01 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

Flo is hurt, when healthy he’s an eilte LT in this league.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 3, 2008 7:05 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree, it's never a good thing paying age

Flozell was never elite, he’s a good second tier Tackle, who has trouble with speed rushers and leads all tackles in False starts

by Deke on Nov 3, 2008 7:15 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

the answer is easy

you blame the players who keep committing the penalties. Each player is a professional who should be personally accountable for their actions on the field, they have to have enough focus to prevent them.

That being said, I saw a few penalties that were complete BS against both teams. They keep calling Witten for illegal motion when in fact he isn’t going forward at all.

They call Spencer and Ware for offsides when in fact they’re not.

They call James for contact on a receiver after 5 yards, but don’t call it against Giants when their LB was mauling Witten 20 yards down the field.

The refs in general across the league have been horrible in all games and its affected us as a result.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 3, 2008 7:04 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Blame the players except your boy Romo, right

then you go on and blame the refs for the socalled BS calls, so I guess you’re really blaming the refs…

by Deke on Nov 3, 2008 7:12 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I thought we were talking about penalties Deke

I don’t remember Romo committing any in his 6 games.

If you can’t see that the refs have been really bad this season, then I guess you haven’t been watching too many games.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 3, 2008 7:51 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

FACTS are the cowboys are thee most penalized team in the league

is that the refs fault, you imply it is…..

You seem to want to blame the refs for the players taking penalties, after you write the following,

you blame the players who keep committing the penalties. Each player is a professional who should be personally accountable for their actions on the field, they have to have enough focus to prevent them.

so which is it Terry, the players fault, or the refs???

Penalties are mistake, just like turnovers, both cost you wins…. in your world, Romo gets a pass when the cowboys lose, but gets all the credit when they win…

if the cowboys lose in Washington with Romo at the helm, they already lost to washington at home with Romo at the helm, if Romo plays bad, you’ll ignore his fumbles and his INT’s saying you have to take the bad with the good with Romo, well, then you’ll have to accept this team never winning in the playoffs or winning a superbowl. Your QB cant continue t make bone headed plays. If Romo continues to make poor decisions, poor mechanics, continues to fumble the ball away and continues to force balls into coverage in the red zone, then the cowboys will be looking for a franchise QB very soon…Romo has to start playing better….

by Deke on Nov 3, 2008 8:30 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

its obviously both

I’m not saying every single penalty is unjustified, but many are not.

We all know you want Romo to fail, you obviously root for it evey game because he’s made you look like a fool since he started in 2006, but Romo is the reason this team made the playoffs the last two years. You’d love to see him fail though to make yourself look better but its not going to happen Deke, its not going to happen.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 3, 2008 8:49 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

only you Terry think I want Romo to fail

I’d like to see him play sound disciplined smart football…. haven’t seen it

by Deke on Nov 3, 2008 9:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

you obviously also fail to see

him play great football producing points the likes this organization hasn’t seen since the ’90s dynasty, or you just choose not to see it like you accuse me of doing with his TOs.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 3, 2008 9:09 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

12th man - The Ref

I have to agree that the Cowboys are not getting their fair shake when it comes to the officiating. Did anyone catch the bogus defensive holding call on Tank Johnson yesterday? The officiating has been so bad, It’s seems like we are playing the Steelers ( the biggest cheaters in the history of the sport) every week.

by Vingman on Nov 3, 2008 7:31 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

+1

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 3, 2008 7:52 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The officiating was terrible yesterday

Whitten was held on a pass play, there was an illegal block on a kick return, the list goes on.

by GhostofGaryHogeboom on Nov 3, 2008 7:55 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

the non call on Witten was horrible

Thats what upsets me, the refs were so inconsistent. If they don’t want to call contact, fine, but then don’t call it against us especially when it wasn’t even as bad.

Witten was being raped down the field, but James bumps a guy once and he’s flagged.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 3, 2008 8:29 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Lets face it....

The media everywhere, especially ESPN is taking great joy in watching the Cowboys self-destruct. The Cowboys are getting about as much sympathy as John McCain, and Sarah Palin. The refs are no exceptions especially after Jerry Jones ran his mouth off about Ed Hochuli, one of their own. Many times he is the Cowboys biggest pain in the ass.

by El Jofre on Nov 3, 2008 7:51 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

ok, but...

the hochuli situation is new

we have had too many penalties for YEARS now

is it against the collective bargaining agreement to fine guys for penalties?

by 325424 on Nov 3, 2008 3:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

These streaks need to stop.

Flozell- at least one false start per game
JWitt- at least one illegal motion per game
Demarcus Ware- at least one offsides per game
Andre Gurode- at least one bad snap per game (good on shotgun yesterday, but did twitch the ball for a false start)
Anthony Spencer- I’ll excuse him from his offsides for this week because he only plays every 4 games; therefore, he’s not used to hard counts

Where's Felix?

by Aaron Novinger on Nov 3, 2008 1:35 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I've watched the Ware and Witten

and quite frankly I don’t see the offsides or illegal motions, especially Witten, the refs are calling those violations when they aren’t there most of the time.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 3, 2008 1:43 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Those Witten calls are so stupid.

Ware and Spencer are just quick. The refs are touchy and I’m not blaming these players; these streaks just need to end, whether it be the refs throwing the flag to create reputations for these Cowboys or them actually committing penalties.

I didn’t see Gurode’s false start either.

Where's Felix?

by Aaron Novinger on Nov 3, 2008 2:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

are you guys really blaming the refs...

when we got beat by 21 points?

You got to be kidding me! All refs make bad calls because they are human, but not to ruin a whole game that you got beat by 21 points. That’s ridiculous.

by calebsmith on Nov 3, 2008 6:19 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

we're not blaming the loss on the refs

we’re just saying they’ve really sucked this year. not just in our games.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 3, 2008 6:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Expectations

Refs make calls based on expectations. They think Witten might be moving, so they watch for that and if they catch any motion that might indicate it, like a nod of his head, they make the call. Ware is particularly singled out because he is so damned quick he catches the refs off guard.

Historically, the Cowboys have been heavily penalized partly because of this heightened scrutiny and partly because they have been able to overcome the setbacks. They know they are going to get cheap calls, so why try?

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on Nov 4, 2008 2:18 PM CST reply actions 0 recs