The Dallas Cowboys’ head coach Mike McCarthy criticized the officiating in Thursday’s loss against the Las Vegas Raiders by refusing an official comment. In overtime, the Cowboys lost to the Raiders by 36-33. They also set a new record for penalty yards in a game.
After the game, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy stated that there were “twenty-eight penalties.” “I don’t know what to say. You can write whatever you like.”
On Thursday, the officiating crew called 28 penalties for each team. The Cowboys’ total penalty count was the most ever. The Cowboys also set a new record with 166 penalty yards. In 1970, the previous record was 161 yards against Washington.
Adding to the fan reactions to how many penalties were called was a particularly funny stat at the expense of the winless Detroit Lions. There were more penalty yards in the Cowboys versus Raiders game than the Lions gained total against the Chicago Bears earlier in the day.
While McCarthy didn’t have any words for the officiating, a couple of Cowboys stars were vocal about their issues with the referees.
“I feel bad for my guys cause I know some of the penalties were 50/50; some would say really bad calls,” rookie Micah Parsons said. “It doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, football is an aggressive game and you’re gonna attack the ball, and you’re gonna play through the ball, and you’re gonna play the defender. End of the day, it’s gonna come to a point and time where when are you going to let us truly play?”
“It’s obvious. They definitely affected the game,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “But we’ve got to self-reflect and keep the officials out of the game. One way or another, we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be disciplined. We’ve got to focus on controlling what we can control. Obviously, they’re going to happen. Feel like we’re targeted a little bit, but in the same instance, yeah, we’ve got to be better on our end to try to keep them out of the game.”
Jones called it “throw up ball” after Jones spoke out about the many pass interference calls that followed the loss. “This will be the most-watched Super Bowl game. It was so simple to throw the ball up and get the penalties for big plays.
Anthony Brown, Cowboys defensive back, had a tough night with penalties. He was called for four pass interference penalties. He received the last one, which was tough because the play appeared not to have made contact with the receiver.
Brown didn’t turn his head and was face-guarding the play. Pass interference was called. The Raiders were able to score a field goal.
Cowboys players and fans were critical of the play. Both teams had already been penalized. Each team received 14 penalties, including the Cowboys as well as the Raiders.
Kelvin Joseph, a rookie cornerback, was ejected along with Roderic Teamer, a Las Vegas Raiders safety. Joseph was upset by the late pass interference call, even though he wasn’t on the field. He had to finish the game at the locker room.