The Cowboys had another week where it seemed they had too many penalties and some could be easily discussed as a key element in defeat. The Marion Barber helmet penalty is nothing short of idiotic, and another 3 false start penalties that bring the Cowboys season total for presnap flags to an amazing 32!
So, is this team sliding back into the bad habits of the Wade Phillips era?
Actually, no.
For games 1-8, the Cowboys were amongst the league leaders (and that is bad) in flags and yardage. 62 penalties for 506 yards in those 8 games. The average for each game was 7.8 flags for 63 yards.
Since then, games 9-15, the Cowboys have 41 flags for 312 yards. The average under Jason Garrett is 5.8 flags per game for 44 yards.
For the year, the Cowboys still rank 6th in most penalties. But, under Garrett, they are 14th in the league.
No team wants any penalties, but under Phillips, this team was among the worst in football. Under Garrett, they are flagged as often as an average team in the NFL.
Game 15 vs Arizona:
| Wk | Q | Player | Penalty | Yards | Unit | FD |
| 15 | 1 | Church | Holding | 10 | ST | |
| 15 | 1 | James | Pass Interference | 4 | Def | FD |
| 15 | 1 | Free | False Start | 5 | Off | |
| 15 | 2 | Jenkins | Pass Interference | Declined | Def | |
| 15 | 2 | Choice | False Start | 5 | Off | |
| 15 | 3 | McCray | Run into Kicker | 5 | ST | |
| 15 | 3 | Davis | False Start | 5 | Off | |
| 15 | 3 | Barber | Unsportsmanlike Conduct | 15 | Off |
Totals: 8 penalites, with 7 accepted for a total of 49 yards. Once again, the Cowboys had more penalties than their opponents, but this time by a slim 7 to 6 margin. The offense had 4 penalties, with 3 being of the maddening "false start" variety. Special Teams had 2 more, and the defense had 2 as well, with Mike Jenkins guilty of yet another pass interference.
Worst Offender: Nobody had a horrible day personally, but special note that Marion Barber, Tashard Choice, and Bradie James were all called for their 1st penalties of the season. For Bradie in particular, I think it is pretty impressive for a player to play virtually every down of every game in the middle of the defense and to never be flagged for any violation.
Here are your season totals - Keep in mind, my totals include declined and offsetting penalties. For football reasons, they matter way more than just accepted penalties.
This is through Week 15:
OFFENSE
| Player | Total | Hold | Presnap | Ill Block | Other |
| Free | 11 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Colombo | 8 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Gurode | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Austin | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Witten | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Davis | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Barron | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Romo | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Bryant | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Kosier | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kitna | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Bennett | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Holland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jones | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Costa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ogletree | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Choice | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Barber | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 65 | 16 | 32 | 4 | 13 |
DEFENSE
| Player | Total | Offside | Rough | Pass Inf | Other |
| Jenkins | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Ware | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Brooking | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Olshansky | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ratliff | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Spencer | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brent | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Scandrick | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ball | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Newman | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sensabaugh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bowen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| McCann | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Church | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| James | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 40 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 12 |
The Pass interference penalties are shocking to me. The Team has 12, so you would assume that the two starting corner backs have the most. Mike Jenkins has 6, representing half of the team's total. But, Terence Newman has 0. He hasn't been great this year, but he also hasn't had to tackle a guy to keep him from making a play. Just an interesting note.
SPECIAL TEAMS
| Player | Total | Offside | Rough | Ill Block | Other |
| Church | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| McBriar | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Buehler | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| McCray | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Scandrick | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hamlin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| L Williams | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ball | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ladocuer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Newman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lee | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hurd | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Cummings | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 18 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
------------------------------
Based on many requests, I have constructed yet another chart below that will help you put some of these numbers into proper context. Below is the week by week penalties that were accepted for the Cowboys and their opponents in each game. This way, you can see how Wade did vs Garrett or how the Cowboys did against their opponents in a scenario that would account for different tones by different officiating crews throughout the season. Enjoy:
| Week | Dal Pen | Yards | Opp Pen | Yards |
| Wk 1-Was | 12 | 81 | 5 | 42 |
| Wk 2-Chi | 6 | 50 | 2 | 10 |
| Wk 3-Hou | 8 | 49 | 5 | 32 |
| Wk 4-Ten | 12 | 133 | 4 | 40 |
| Wk 5- Min | 11 | 91 | 5 | 45 |
| Wk 6- NYG | 5 | 42 | 6 | 46 |
| Wk 7- Jac | 3 | 20 | 6 | 36 |
| Wk 8- GB | 5 | 40 | 2 | 20 |
| Wk 9- NYG | 5 | 60 | 8 | 69 |
| Wk 10- Det | 6 | 39 | 10 | 76 |
| Wk 11- NO | 4 | 19 | 4 | 30 |
| Wk 12- IND | 5 | 35 | 3 | 28 |
| Wk 13- PHI | 5 | 40 | 6 | 59 |
| Wk 14- Was | 9 | 70 | 3 | 25 |
| Wk 15- Arz | 7 | 49 | 6 | 43 |
| Totals | 103 | 818 | 75 | 601 |
Bob Sturm is host of BaD Radio on The Ticket 1310 AM Mondays through Fridays at 12-3 p.m. He also hosts The Ticket's Cowboys pregame show. Follow Bob on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bobanddan Bob offers his exclusive analysis after games on SportsDayDFW.com
Read all of Bob's posts at this link:
http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/bob-sturm
No comments:
Post a Comment