Sullivan and Helman on the Holding Calls

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The worst was that non-holding call against the Skins a couple of weeks ago. Crawford clearly beat his man and TWO Skins O-Linemen held him at the same time...right in front of the ref and no flag was called.





YR

Yeah that still showing the choke hold and the ref looking with a clear sightline is pretty damning.

 

[Kaiser]

So, please, give us the acceptable number of games it is to go without a benificial holding penalty on the defense?

And after you provide that number, please reference the authority on which you’re basing that arbitrary number on.

I'm not following what you mean by "acceptable". Dallas had three games with a normal number of calls and is now at 10 games and counting with an abnormal number.

 

[dogberry]

What kind of number would tell a fraud investigator to "dig here"?

 

[ThreeandOut]

What kind of number would tell a fraud investigator to "dig here"?

Or for Vegas to take a Cowboys game off the board?

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I'm not following what you mean by "acceptable". Dallas had three games with a normal number of calls and is now at 10 games and counting with an abnormal number.

If you’re asking that question I’m afraid you’re not understanding how distribution and occurrence/incidence in a standard bell curve works. We are on the bottom quarter of the league in terms of defensive holding calls which puts us around the tail end of the curve. With a dearth of these holding calls being made that equates to a less consistent data distribution and occurrence. It’s like trying to deduce how long you can hit a golf ball based on just three drives (your first three may go 224, 171 and 115, but over 20 drives you even out around 210 consistently). Conversely, if we were one of the teams getting a high number of these calls, the distribution and occurance would plot more consistently over time (i.e. games).

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Reality is, it's not just this season either. A blatant holding "Non-Call" probably cost us a trip to the Super Bowl just last season vs. GB.

yep, that was atrocious

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I'm not following what you mean by "acceptable". Dallas had three games with a normal number of calls and is now at 10 games and counting with an abnormal number.

With one of the better DL's in the league. The commissioner's office handles the refs. Goodell has done a piss poor job. It reminds me of David Stern and the NBA a few years ago.

 

[jordan4vols]

Did anyone look at the data? Care to guess who HAD THE MOST flags thrown on the opposing team for them? Thats right, the NY John Mara led football Giants. Its not a coincidence. Especially with Dallas having the fewest and the Eagles tied for 2nd fewest.

**Edit**

The Cowboys have had 8 flags thrown against the other team for fewest in the league. The Giants have had 25 thrown against the other team for most in the league.

 

[Kaiser]

If you’re asking that question I’m afraid you’re not understanding how distribution and occurrence/incidence in a standard bell curve works. .

I understand fine. You are trying to compare an average against other teams in the league and that isn't the issue.

 

[Kaiser]

With one of the better DL's in the league. The commissioner's office handles the refs. Goodell has done a piss poor job. It reminds me of David Stern and the NBA a few years ago.

And we had a normal number of calls until Jerry challenged Goodell's contract. Then opposing holding calls stopped.

But if you average the number for the season, its still on the chart so move along, nothing to see here.

 

[Cas2800]

Two comments on the Holding Calls on DC.com, both from guys that are pretty much company men but neither can avoid the Elephant in the kitchen. Jeff Sullivan posted this on DC.com today:

• I rarely talk about the officiating, just not worth it, and it’s always been my belief that they are doing the best they can. I officiated high school basketball for a few years and it was the most difficult job I’ve ever had. It just all moves so quickly, and again, that’s at the high school level. Still, go back and watch DeMarcus Lawrence every snap of that game. I watched the tape this morning and counted 11 holding penalties, six of them blatant. And zero were called. Somehow, he still finished with six hurries and two really impressive solo tackles against the run. “Tank” is still the front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year, but a few more sacks down the stretch certainly wouldn’t hurt his case.

David Helman posted this yesterday:


But you get the point. There has been a noticeable lack of holdings calls for this Dallas defense this season.

I actually took the time to look it up, thanks to the wonders of the Internet. Here is your breakdown.

So, yes. Lawrence isn’t imagining things. The Cowboys have only benefitted from eight holding calls all year – and four of those came in the first three weeks of the season. From Week 4 against Los Angeles, until Week 10 against Atlanta, they didn’t receive a single holding call from an opposing offensive lineman.

On strictly offensive and defensive plays, NFL refs have thrown a total of 514 offensive holding flags this year. That’s an average of 16 per team – so the Cowboys have received exactly half of the league average.

Why not make a clip of all the obvious calls for us to post? The average fan doesn't have access to the equipment and game footage to do so like Helman does, And a journalist that's part of his job. This is the only way anyone outside the Cowboys organization or fan base will take note. These refs need to be called out. What's worse is all the ticky tack calls going against the Cowboys that sway the games but those are even harder to prove. Obvious holding calls aren't.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I understand fine. You are trying to compare an average against other teams in the league and that isn't the issue.

Yes, I know. Depending on which numbers you reference, when you only have 6 (or 8) flags over the course of 13 games, those incidences are not likely to be distributed evenly. There should be no expectation for them to unless you’re simply appealing to “hey, no fair, call some for our side.”