Jerry Jones, Michael Gallup, More Cowboys Call Out Referees After OT Loss to Raiders

Dallas wide receiver Michael Gallup thought his team was facing two opponents:

Rookie linebacker Micah Parsons and head coach Mike McCarthy chimed in as well:

Las Vegas and Dallas each had 14 penalties, though the latter racked up 56 more penalty yards.

As much as those with the Cowboys might feel they were disproportionately affected by the officiating, there were questionable calls on both sides.

The worst for the Raiders came late in the fourth quarter when center Andre James was whistled for a false start. The Cowboys appeared to jump offside, which would’ve given Las Vegas a first down. Instead, the Raiders were backed up to a 2nd-and-10 and settled for a field goal two plays later. 

But Dallas was on the negative end for arguably the two biggest penalty calls of the game.

The first was a holding call on Tyron Smith in the third quarter that took a Dalton Schultz touchdown off the board. The home team had to settle for a Greg Zuerlein field goal after getting backed up.

Then, the Raiders were staring at 3rd-and-18 on their own 43-yard line in overtime as Anthony Brown provided them with a lifeline by committing pass interference. Las Vegas moved all the way up to Dallas’ 24-yard line. That was all the help Rich Bisaccia’s squad needed to get Daniel Carlson in position for a game-winning 29-yard field goal.

Officiating never decides the outcome of a game, and the referees weren’t responsible for the Cowboys surrendering 509 yards and 36 points to a team that scored 43 points over its previous three games. 

But as Jones referenced, the Thanksgiving Day clash wasn’t exactly a great advertisement for the NFL, unless you like seeing a lot of yellow laundry.