Bob Sturm has written two very nice articles on the Cowboys penalty situation. One can be access by clicking the title and the other is below.

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/10/bob-sturm-bill-parcells-never.html

These articles dispel a couple of myths that get repeated on BTB on a regular basis (or at least did during the Wade Phillips era):

1) the Cowboys have always been a bad penalty team, even under Bill Parcells

2) the Cowboys’ inclination toward costly penalties is somehow innate and therefore will not change.