The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, 20-17, on the Oct. 16th edition of Monday Night Football.
The Cowboys were penalized 11 times for 85 yards, while the refs flagged the Chargers nine times for 79 yards.
Twice last week, in appearances on 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shared his theory about penalties. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted, “Put simply, [Jones] believes that penalties should be called evenly between both teams in any given game.”
Jones explained his thinking on Friday.
“Penalties are a big part of this,” Jones said. “Generally, in a given game, if the officiating is ‘what’s good for the goose, good for the gander,’ is the same for both sides, offense [and] defense, then you really haven’t had a game outcome change. And that one the other day [against the Chargers], we all got it equally.”
Jones is one of the most powerful owners in the sport, so it begs the question as to how influential his thinking is on this issue.
“If Jones is right, compliance with the rules doesn’t really matter. The penalties will ultimately be called equally,” Florio noted on Pro Football Talk.
It would certainly be an unorthodox view that would alter the integrity of the game if it became widespread.
