Dallas Cowboys: Mike McCarthy met with NFL office Friday morning, will meet again soon
Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy isn’t happy about the officiating in the Thanksgiving game against Las Vegas. Now, he’s taking his frustrations to the NFL office.
McCarthy said Friday that he met with the NFL officiating office about the referees in the Cowboys’ 36-33 loss to the Raiders. Dallas was flagged 14 times for a franchise record 166 yards while Las Vegas had 14 penalties for 110 yards.
It’s the first time in 18 years both teams were hit with at least 14 flags for 100 yards, according to Pro Football Talk. McCarthy isn’t hiding his feelings about it, either.
“This game was totally off the trend line, as you can see as far as statistics,” McCarthy said, according to Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News. “I’ve already talked to the league this morning, and I anticipate a second conversation, maybe this afternoon.”
Cowboys cornerback Anthony Brown entered the game without a penalty against him. Thursday night alone, he had four flags for 91 yards — all for pass interference. The biggest came in overtime when Brown didn’t turn around on a deep pass from Derek Carr, which set up the game-winning field goal from Daniel Carlson.
“Yesterday’s game was extremely frustrating,” McCarthy said. “It was very herky jerky. The officiating was a big part of the game.”
Mike McCarthy ripped NFL officiating postgame without saying a word
McCarthy’s displeasure was evident in the postgame press conference Thursday night when he said so much by saying so little.
“Twenty-eight penalties,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said after the game. “‘I don’t really know what the hell you want me to say. Write whatever you want. I’m all for it.”
To put the amount of flags in perspective, there were more penalty yards in the Cowboys vs. Raiders game than the Lions gained total against the Chicago Bears earlier in the day.
While McCarthy didn’t have any words for the officiating, a couple of Cowboys stars, including rookie Micah Parsons, were vocal about their issues with the referees.
“I feel bad for my guys cause I know some of the penalties were 50/50; some would say really bad calls,” Parsons said. “It doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, football is an aggressive game and you’re gonna attack the ball, and you’re gonna play through the ball, and you’re gonna play the defender. End of the day, it’s gonna come to a point and time where when are you going to let us truly play?”