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We are only two games into the 2020 season but one of the pleasant surprises on the field for the Dallas Cowboys has been pass rusher Aldon Smith. Back when the Cowboys signed Smith a lot of people were wondering what they were doing. He hadn’t played in five years and any time somebody has been out of the league for that long, well, it’s hard to return in general, let alone to a point of high-level contribution
Overall the Cowboys pass rush needs to do better, but as mentioned Smith has had his moments. One of them came during the Week 1 loss against the Los Angeles Rams when he hit Jared Goff and helped force an interception.
The only problem with that play was Smith didn’t exactly catch Goff cleanly and many people thought he should have been flagged. He wasn’t and the Cowboys lost anyway, but he’s feeling the impact in his pocket book.
Aldon Smith was fined for his hit on Jared Goff
The pressure generated by Smith on the play in question did help Chidobe Awuzie, who was placed on injured reserve by the way, come up with the team’s first interception of the season. It came at a price though, one with a few digits.
#Cowboys DE Aldon Smith was fined $12,004 for roughing the passer – a blow to #Rams QB Jared Goff’s head that caused an interception in Week 1. No flag was thrown. #Browns S Andrew Sendejo was fined $13,327 for his hit on #Bengals WR Tyler Boyd, drawing a flag last week.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 26, 2020
In case you didn’t see, there were plenty of people who later took to social media to share their opinions that Smith should have been penalized. Many Rams fans used it as a point of contention when Cowboys fans brought up the offensive pass interference called against Michael Gallup in the game’s final moments.
Refs will call someone for roughing just for being in the same zip code as a QB, yet called absolutely nothing here on a play that was an interception #DALvsLAR pic.twitter.com/zVT7meLDxI
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) September 14, 2020
Saturday was clearly a taxing day for NFL players as a lot of finds around the league were reported. Only one Cowboys player was fined, but another was involved in a different issue.
You will recall that Dak Prescott briefly missed time last week against the Atlanta Falcons. This was partly due to the hit that he took from Deion Jones who has been fined as a result of it.
#Falcons LB Deion Jones was fined $15,000 for unnecessary roughness — a big hit on #Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, who briefly left last week’s game.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 26, 2020
Hopefully there are no fines as a result of Sunday’s action. And hopefully the Dallas Cowboys come out on top regardless.