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“Comical” and “Unbelievable” are just two words used to describe the officiating crew on Sunday Night Football.
Linebacker Micah Parsons took to social media after his Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles 33-13 to vent about the referees.
Owner Jerry Jones echoed the sentiments of his star player.
“It’s unbelievable that they can call all those penalties and not call those holdings,” says Jones.
With the score 17-6 in favour of Dallas on Sunday, Parsons tried to slip a block from Philly tight end Dallas Goedert to make a tackle out of the backfield, only to have his jersey pulled and hooked down.
Parsons pleaded with officiating, but there was no call.
Getting Away with Holding?
This is not the first time Parsons is venting about the refs, and he is certainly not alone in that department.
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin claims that his star pass rusher, T.J. Watt is the victim of constant holding, something he believes refs are far too lenient about.
Parsons meanwhile believes there’s a league-wide disinterest in calling offensive holding penalties.
“It’s something that we should not even call out anymore. We all see what’s going on. We don’t got to say it. The fans, the media, the reporters, they all see it. It is just something they are not making an emphasis on.”
“And you know, they’re getting away, and they want teams to score lots of points. At the end of the day, that’s what they want. They want fans to get excited. That’s what fans like – you like touchdowns. Y’all don’t really like sacks and things like that.”
You can add Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett to the list of disgruntled pass rushers upset with that stuff.
“It was honestly awful,” Garrett said of the officiating versus Jacksonville. “
“And the fact that they’re letting them get away with hands to the face, holding, false-starting. I know they called a couple, but damn, they could have called it all game.”
Do Officials pick on the Cowboys?
There is a suggestion that NFL referees have something against America’s Team.
The statistics show that the Dallas Cowboys are the most penalized team in the league, receiving 97 flags.
That’s a loss of 824 yards altogether, slightly below the Seattle Seahawks, who lead the league with 847 penalty yards.
Offensive holding is the most common Cowboys penalty, with 18 flags against them to this point of the season.
Defensively, Dallas have been called for holding 14 times, the second-most in the NFL in that category behind the Atlanta Falcons (15).
Despite all the penalties, the Cowboys are keeping a cool head about it all, without a single unsportsmanlike conduct, roughing the passer or personal foul penalty.
In their 13 games this season, the Cowboys have had more penalties than the opposition six times.
On Sunday, the Eagles had 10 penalties to the Cowboys’ seven, with Dallas’ previous two opponents receiving a combined 225 yards worth of infractions with the Cowboys at 187.