Cowboys Penalties Mean Practice Changes: 'We'll Get It Right'
The Dallas Cowboys committed a season-high 13 penalties against the New York Giants on Thanksgiving but managed to secure a 28-20 win to move to 8-3.
While the win was pleasing, the number of penalties was not.
Playing in the luxurious confines of AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys had trouble with several pre-snap penalties (four false starts) that set the offense back behind the chains.
Offensive lineman Terence Steele and his unit got to work this week to fix what is now a troubling issue.
"We did some cadence work, all just trying to get off on the cadence," Steele said. "We just need to keep doing that and we'll get it right. … We were out on the field ... and coaches were trying to mimic Dak (Prescott's) snap count — just getting reps there with that ...
"Throughout the week we'll do a full line with Dak at QB to give us his cadence, so that we can get used to [it]."
Is it odd that the Cowboys still need to do this? Yes. But do they still need to do this? Obviously.
The 13 penalties for 86 yards were a blight on an otherwise good afternoon for the Cowboys. After a sluggish start that saw Dallas trail 13-7 at the break, a second-half explosion saw the Cowboys rattle off 21 unanswered points until a late touchdown from the Giants made the scoreboard look respectable.
The Dallas offensive line has only allowed 14 sacks through 11 games. But the penalties on Sunday nearly stopped the Cowboys in their tracks.
At home again on Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts, Steele knows that the penalty problems on offense can't happen again.
"We can't have any pre-snap penalties," Steele said. "They bite us in the butt."
With the Colts heavy underdogs for Sunday night's game, the last thing Mike McCarthy wants is for penalties to keep coach Jeff Saturday's men in the game.
Should the issue of pre-snap penalties and other setbacks continue, the Cowboys could find themselves in a battle with an otherwise poor Colts team that runs the ball well with Jonathan Taylor.
On Sunday night, Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff will be hoping the cadence work at practice this week will pay dividends in the form of limited penalties.
"Trust me, I’m clearly on top of the things that aren’t gong well,'' he said. "Penalties and penalty prevention is something we’re spending more time on.''
Is there a balance to be found? McCarthy believes so. He wants to fix the issue (Dallas led the NFL in penalties in 2021), "But,'' he added, "I don’t want to lose the aggressiveness of our play style and efficiency."
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