Google News Cowboys 'frustrated' by amount of penalties in Raiders loss
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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted he was a bit shocked by the amount of flags the refs threw during the Las Vegas Raiders matchup. The Cowboys and Raiders were each penalized 14 times as the Raiders claimed a 36-33 overtime win over the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Thanksgiving.
"Well, this probably will be arguably the most watched game other than the Super Bowl, and I hated that it got down to just throwing the ball up and getting your penalties to get your big plays," Jones said. "And I think we were into that.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm so proud of our team for the way we hung in, hung in and came back and played, but it's frustrating for everybody, for all of our fans at this particular time, to have a game that had you on pretty unsure footing as to where you were going to be with your fundamentals, i.e., whether those were going to be called or not.
And they got calls, too, so it's just a little off balance way to play the game."
Cowboys coach was left stunned
Coach Mike McCarthy couldn't believe the refs actually threw 28 flags. "Twenty-eight penalties -- I don't really know what the hell you want me to say," McCarthy said.
"Write whatever you want, I'm all for it." On what turned out to be the final drive of the game, Cowboys cornerback Anthony Brown was called for a pass interference that resulted in a 33-yard penalty. "It was obviously frustrating," McCarthy said.
"The game was herky-jerky from start to finish. Give our guys credit to continue to focus and battle. The numbers are absurd, definitely understand that. But just like everything in this game there is trends and patterns, and we anticipated this game being officiated this way.
"But in the same breath it's the line that you have straddle. I don't want our guys slowing down and playing slower. We've tried that already and that didn't help us overcoaching the penalties a few weeks back. We're going to get up on the balls of our feet and keep fighting.
We've got to really focus on our fundamentals and finish plays. We'll take a hard look at it. We evaluate the penalties every week. We break them down and it will be part of our fundamental emphasis as we get ready for the Saints."
