Getty Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy
The biggest star at AT&T Stadium this Thanksgiving was not Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott or Las Vegas Raiders counterpart Derek Carr or even the literal star on the field.
It was Shawn Hochuli, son of legendary NFL referee Ed Hochuli, who garnered the most television time inside Jerry World, much to the chagrin of the home team. Hochuli announced 28 accepted penalties amid Dallas’ 36-33 overtime loss to Las Vegas on Thursday — an unfathomable 14 for each side.
“The numbers are absurd,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said after the game, via Jori Epstein of USA Today. “I don’t really know what the hell you want me to say. Write whatever you want, I’m all for it.”
McCarthy’s squad suffered its third defeat over the last four weeks and did so in the sloppiest fashion imaginable. The Cowboys were called for 166 yards on 14 infractions, including consecutive neutral-zone fouls on the Raiders’ game-winning field goal attempt.
The most in the franchise’s 61-year history.
“We thought it might come down to a (bad-call) penalty,” McCarthy said of the affair versus Vegas, via Mike Fisher of SI.com.
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Jerry Speaks Out on Refereeing
After the game, Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones held his usual tete-a-tete with reporters. Jones was, of course, pressed about the abundance of laundry that littered his $1.2 billion palace. The gregarious czar chose his words carefully, explaining that “this is not a criticism of the rule. It is a criticism of the discretion of how you use them in play.”
But he wasn’t happy, either — and let it be known.
“(The Raiders) took advantage of the situation. I call it ‘Throw-Up Ball.’ Right way to play a game like this: just throw it out there and get a penalty,” Jones told reporters, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “This will probably be the most-watched game other than the Super Bowl, and I hated that it got down to just throwing the ball up and getting the penalties to get your big plays.”
Jerry.
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Brown a Major Culprit in Flag-Fest
If at any random point you looked up at your television, you probably saw Hochuli penalizing Cowboys cornerback Anthony Brown for illegal coverage. Brown, targeted relentlessly opposite Trevon Diggs, drew four pass interference flags, routinely granting the Raiders’ offense a fresh set of downs.
“Almost every third down, after I got the first two, (Raiders QB Derek Carr) just kept throwing it up on third down,” Brown said in his postgame press conference, via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. “If he feels like it’s going to be easy to get a call, he’s going to keep doing it.”
Carr completed 24-of-39 passes for 373 yards and one touchdown. The passing attack produced a pair of 100-yard receivers (DeSean Jackson, Hunter Renfrow), both of whom spent part of their Turkey Day engaging in jump-ball situations with Brown and others befallen by the officiating.
“We should be playing football, not tag. … When are you going to let us truly play?” Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons wondered aloud, via Epstein.