Going through an NFL season without any complaints about the officiating is like going to Boise, ID, and expecting top-of-the-line seafood. The Cowboys are the latest team that wants answers from the officials for at least two plays that 'helped' the Cardinals win in Dallas 25-22 in a nail-biter on Sunday.
Jerry Jones made his weekly appearance on The Shan & RJ Show Tuesday morning to address a variety of topics, including Dak's performance, how the officials ruined the teams' momentum on offense and whether the league should consider making officials' full-time employees.
At around the 6:50 mark, (which you can listen to Jones' full interview above) the Hall of Fame owner was asked about his thoughts on the officiating during Sunday's game, in which Jones complained about the calls that were made, pointing to a number of holding penalties that killed offensive drives.
"The calls themselves were at a bad time," Jones told Shan & RJ on 105.3FM the Fan. "They stopped our possessions, they stopped our drives, they stopped us from getting our rhythm. Those holding calls can do that now. To me, they are one of the biggest drive stoppers or keep you from getting your feet under you and really getting something going. It's been a challenge for us, we got to do better in the playoffs at maintaining possession."
Jones was then asked what the consensus is across the league as to why the NFL has yet to make officials full-time employees. Jones, contrary to popular belief, is flat out against the idea and sees no benefit in doing so.
"Well, you just don't have enough support to have the conclusion that full-time would remedy the issues that we're complaining about," Jones said. "There's nothing that says a full-time official will do better than a part-time official."
"The quality of the people that you get with part-time officials are outstanding. They are outstanding. These are some of the most accomplished people in professions or, if you will, in the country. So I've never been convinced, me personally, that a part-time official that's spending some of his time engineering wouldn't be better than a full-time official. We're talking about 17 games and the playoffs -- nothing has convinced me that there would be that kind of an advantage."
To put the cherry on top of Jones' statement, the 79-year-old owner indicated that you actually will get less quality officiating if you were to make the officials full-timers.
"Matter of fact, you might have less quality," he added
Whether you agree or disagree with Jones' statement, something needs to give when addressing the poor officiating we've seen across the league this season. The Cowboys were flagged a total of 10 times for 88 yards by Scott Novak's crew, including four offensive holding penalties that negated two first-down runs.
Other players' shared in their owners' frustrations, including DeMarcus Lawrence who hopes the NFL will sit down with their team to discuss the problem.
"I'm gonna let the NFL handle that. I know it's a possibility we see both of these teams in the playoffs. You know hopefully the NFL can sit down with their team, review the film, learn from their mistakes and get better from it."
Week 17's game vs. the Cardinals was the fourth time this season the Cowboys have had double-digit penalties, the most since they had a 14-penalty, 166-yard day against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thanksgiving day.
The Cowboys wrap up the season in Philadelphia to take on the Eagles on Saturday night. Jones' said they intend on playing all of their starters.
"We plan to play. We plan to play to win."
Follow Jasper Jones on Twitter: @jonesj2342
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