The Dallas Cowboys didn’t lose because of the NFL referees. Let’s get that out of the way first and foremost. In every game, there are a multitude of plays that can be called either way and once the ball starts rolling in one direction, it’s easy to pay attention to every greivance on one side and ignore the ones on the other.
However, the calls the refs made, and others they didn’t make, certainly made the Dallas Cowboys’ efforts more of an uphill battle than they did for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 28-23 game on Sunday afternoon.
There has been a long tradition in the NFL where the Cowboys are constantly on the short end of the officiating stick; actual studies have been done on this in the past. However, more often than not, as long as time is left on the clock, the results almost inevitably end up being back in a team’s control. Sunday’s loss had numerous examples of the Cowboys being screwed by the calls, but also messing up themselves.
Dak Prescott stepping out of bounds on a two-point conversion was not the ref’s fault. Tyler Smith false starting on first-and-goal from the six yard line was not the ref’s fault. Either of those things
What was the ref’s fault? Plenty. There was the lack of an offensive pass interference call when Devonta Smith used an arm bar to create separation for his TD against DaRon Bland. There was the lack of a DPI call when CeeDee Lamb was grabbed on a deep ball the very next play.
There was the DPI called against Stephon Gilmore on an uncatchable ball that landed well outside the sideline on a throwaway. There was the penalty on Chuma Edoga for not declaring eligible that negated a Tony Pollard TD. Three plays later there was an overrule that claimed Luke Schoonmaker was down before crossing the goal line. The refs threw a flag for illegal hands to the face but picked it up when the replay showed there was clearly hands to the face.
Again, the Dallas Cowboys had a chance to win this game despite these officiating errors, and they didn’t come through. But the refs were really bad in this game and as such, the reaction on social media let them have it.