{"id":106287,"date":"2025-10-12T00:43:37","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T00:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=106287"},"modified":"2025-10-12T00:44:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T00:44:05","slug":"flag-warning-in-carolina-cowboys-face-an-uphill-battle-against-the-panthers-and-the-zebras-referee-report-raises-eyebrows-before-kickoff-dallas-coaches-are-already-bracing-for-a-whistle-f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=106287","title":{"rendered":"FLAG WARNING IN CAROLINA: Cowboys Face an Uphill Battle Against the Panthers \u2014 and the Zebras, Referee Report Raises Eyebrows Before Kickoff, Dallas Coaches Are Already Bracing for a Whistle-Filled Afternoon, And This One Could Get Controversial Fast\u2026ll"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

It feels weird to have this much optimism around a team that\u2019s just 2-2-1, but that\u2019s where we are with the Cowboys. Their offense is cooking, the defense showed signs of life last week, and the team is favored in a road game with the Panthers this week.<\/p>\n

Things may be trending in the Cowboys\u2019 favor as of late, but it hasn\u2019t all been sunshine and rainbows. Let\u2019s take a look at their penalty numbers before getting into the officiating assignment for this week\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Cowboys Penalties Week by Week<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/th>\n\n

Cowboys Penalties<\/h3>\n<\/th>\n

\n

Penalty Yards<\/h3>\n<\/th>\n

\n

Opponent Penalties<\/h3>\n<\/th>\n

\n

Penalty Yards<\/h3>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n

at Eagles<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n42<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n110<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
vs Giants<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n106<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n160<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
at Bears<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n25<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n41<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
vs Packers<\/td>\n11<\/td>\n95<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n53<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
at Jets<\/td>\n11<\/td>\n91<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n61<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total<\/td>\n42<\/td>\n359<\/td>\n46<\/td>\n425<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Cowboys have now gone consecutive weeks with 11 penalties, and it\u2019s their third time in four games with double-digit penalties. After sitting outside the top 10 in penalties for the year, they\u2019ve now leapt into a tie for the fifth-most flags; more concerning, they\u2019re fourth in total penalty yardage.<\/p>\n

Special teams continues to be an issue here, too. The offense is 19th in penalties, the defense is 16th in penalties, but special teams is second in the league in flags drawn. Coincidentally, the Titans – led by John \u201cBones\u201d Fassel – is the one unit more penalized than Dallas.<\/p>\n

As for the Panthers, they\u2019re one of the more disciplined teams in the NFL, currently drawing the fifth-fewest penalties. They have yet to draw double-digit flags in a game and have just one game with more than 60 penalty yards. Odds seem good those streaks continue with this week\u2019s officiating crew.<\/p>\n

John Hussey is one of the longest-tenured officials in football, having joined the NFL all the way back in 2002 as a line judge. He became a head referee in 2015 and is now in the midst of his 11th season leading his own crew. That gives him a pretty sizable career of how Hussey calls games, over which he\u2019s developed a reputation for helping the home team.<\/p>\n

Last year marked the first time since 2017 that Hussey\u2019s crew did not finish the year with more penalties called on the visitor, though it was narrow, with just six more flags on the home team. Prior to that, his crew usually finished with considerably more flags thrown on the road team; so far this year, he\u2019s called seven more penalties on the home team.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible that Hussey is changing his tendencies, though that\u2019s usually uncommon for referees as tenured as he. A breakdown of Hussey\u2019s games this year offers a reasonable explanation for the discrepancy: he officiated a Titans game in Tennessee in Week 2 that saw the Titans – and that horribly undisciplined special teams unit we mentioned before – flagged six more times than their visiting opponent. That game sticks out as a real statistical anomaly.<\/p>\n

One thing that has been materially different this year, though, is the on-field impact of Hussey\u2019s calls. Known to be a boon for the home team\u2019s winning chances, Hussey has seen the home team go 107-56 under his watch before the start of this season.<\/p>\n

However, the home team is 2-2 so far this year, with several surprises. In Week 1, the Bills staged an epic comeback over the Ravens; backup Mac Jones led the 49ers to a win over the Cardinals; and the Commanders just upset the Chargers. Not only that, but the home team is 1-3 against the spread with Hussey on the call this year, which seems to suggest home teams aren\u2019t getting the usual boost they have in the past.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a comforting trend for the Cowboys, but the fact remains that the Panthers don\u2019t draw the flag too much. The Cowboys offense leads the league in first downs gained by penalty, but Carolina is giving up the fewest first downs by penalty, just two. In the same vein, the Panthers are tied for sixth in gaining first downs that way.<\/p>\n

The Panthers are a very disciplined team so far this year, and the Cowboys haven\u2019t been one in recent weeks. Hussey may no longer be the harbinger of doom for visitors, but his presence and extensive track record is anything but a positive for the Cowboys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cowboys head ref this week is not a good one for visiting teams<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":106288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nFLAG WARNING IN CAROLINA: Cowboys Face an Uphill Battle Against the Panthers \u2014 and the Zebras, Referee Report Raises Eyebrows Before Kickoff, Dallas Coaches Are Already Bracing for a Whistle-Filled Afternoon, And This One Could Get Controversial Fast\u2026ll - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=106287\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FLAG WARNING IN CAROLINA: Cowboys Face an Uphill Battle Against the Panthers \u2014 and the Zebras, Referee Report Raises Eyebrows Before Kickoff, Dallas Coaches Are Already Bracing for a Whistle-Filled Afternoon, And This One Could Get Controversial Fast\u2026ll - 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