2. Pre-Snap Penalties Haunt The Cowboys
The Cowboys played with such little discipline on Sunday, and it was a big reason why they lost. You cannot commit 14 penalties and expect to win.
The ones that hurt the most are the dumb pre-snap penalties. The Cowboys had seven pre-snap penalties including three neutral-zone infractions, two false starts, a delay of game, and an illegal shift. I have never seen a team with more mental mistakes in such a big game.
The 14 penalties I previously mentioned tied the most ever for a Cowboys team in a playoff game. But, it should not be surprising the Cowboys got penalized so much as they led the NFL in penalties committed this season.
Here is another example of how brutal of a showing this was by Dallas,
There have been 276 games counting playoffs this NFL season. Only four teams were assessed 14 penalties in a game, including the Cowboys twice.
— Rick Gosselin (@RickGosselin9) January 17, 2022
The Cowboys’ sloppy play was why they led the league in penalties. But, to me, there is no excuse for pre-snap penalties other than being undisciplined. The defensive line kept trying to jump the snap on Sunday and instead they jumped offside.
But, the dumbest penalty of the game was probably after the Cowboys’ successful fake punt. McCarthy decided to leave the special teams unit on the field to try and get the 49ers to waste a timeout.
The level of incompetence after the Cowboys fake punt is so hard to sit with.
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) January 17, 2022
Dak doesn't even have his helmet on with 14 seconds before the ball has to be snapped.
In Mike McCarthy's perfect world what was about to happen here? There was no plan. Just time wasting. pic.twitter.com/16fNU7pa6F
It was a total disaster. The Cowboys actually considered running a play with their long-snapper at center, and linebackers at offensive tackles. What on earth was going on?! The most pre-snap motion we saw all game was by punter Bryan Anger and whatever he was doing on this play.
Once again, this was coaching ignorance, and it led to a Cowboys delay of game penalty. I could not be more disappointed in this showing from the Cowboys. They did not even show up for this game. The fact that they even had a chance at the given all the penalties was incredible.