Archer: Cowboys penalty breakdown

Cotton

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Cowboys penalty breakdown
December, 30, 2014

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas -- Penalties have been an issue for the Dallas Cowboys whether Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips or Jason Garrett has been the coach.

The Cowboys concluded their ninth straight year with at least 100 penalties, coming in with 105 accepted penalties for 839 yards. The yardage total is the lowest since they had 802 in 2011.

But why did it seem like the penalties were not as much as an issue this year as in the past? I’d go with the 12-4 record. Winning can hide some things.

Brandon Carr led the Cowboys with 12 penalties, seven of which were declined. He had five defensive pass interference penalties, two defensive holding calls and one of the following: unnecessary roughness, illegal use of hands, illegal block above the waist, offensive holding, and unsportsmanlike conduct.

At the Nov. 16 bye week, left tackle Tyron Smith led the Cowboys with seven penalties, but he was flagged just twice in the final six games.

Here is the player breakdown of the penalties (declined penalties):

12 – Carr (7)
9 – Smith (1)
7 – Tony Romo, Orlando Scandrick
6 – Travis Frederick
5 – Ronald Leary, Jason Witten
4 – Sterling Moore (1), Doug Free, C.J. Spillman (1), J.J. Wilcox (1)
3 – DeMarco Murray, Zack Martin, Tyler Patmon, Jeremy Mincey (1), Anthony Hitchens, Bruce Carter (1)
2 – Dwayne Harris, Rolando McClain, George Selvie, Morris Claiborne, Barry Church, Cameron Lawrence (1)
1 – Tyrone Crawford, Dez Bryant, Micah Pellerin, Devin Street, Tyler Clutts, Jack Crawford, Justin Durant, Gavin Escobar, James Hanna, Chris Jones, Jermey Parnell, Kyle Wilber, DeMarcus Lawrence
 

dallen

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Pretty impressive reduction for Free. He has had a lot of penalties in the past
 

boozeman

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Pretty impressive reduction overall for the team and Garrett should get some credit for that.

A huge difference in discipline IMO.

Like other stuff Garrett has turned around, hard to understand why all of the sudden, but it is there.
 

kidd

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Pretty impressive reduction overall for the team and Garrett should get some credit for that.

A huge difference in discipline IMO.

Like other stuff Garrett has turned around, hard to understand why all of the sudden, but it is there.
I think it's because he finally accepted his role as a "walk-around" coach.

Without worrying as much about the play-calling, he can focus more on game preparation.
 

data

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But why did it seem like the penalties were not as much as an issue this year as in the past? I’d go with the 12-4 record. Winning can hide some things.
My theory is a lower percentage of pre-snap penalties. False Start, Delay of Game, 12-Men, Offsides and Illegal Formation/Shift.

We used to joke about having 3 false starts per game (with Witten being one), Demarcus Ware always having one offsides, blowing a timeout per game to avoid a second Delay of Game...
 

fortsbest

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A reduction in penalties is a natural progression when you have a plan that you actually stick to. So yes, I do credit Jason being a walk-around- head-coach to some degree. He isn't trying to do everything with the offense and things flow better.
 
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