Jalen Tolbert tries to explain away embarrassing OT offsides penalty vs. Packers
Once again, Dallas Cowboys penalties seem to be the main story of a loss.
On Sunday, the Cowboys collected nine accepted penalties that gave away 83 yards. The only two times Dallas has had more flags than that this season was during their two other losses in Weeks 1 and 6.
Despite head coach Mike McCarthy constantly mentioning how important penalties are, last season’s league leader in penalties is yet again in the top five for yellow laundry in 2022.
In Week 10 the most confusing and egregious penalty came during overtime against a rookie who has done a whole lot of nothing this year in Jalen Tolbert. On 2nd and 3 in Green Bay territory, Tony Pollard had a nine-yard rush that should’ve kept the chains moving. Instead, a yellow flag was thrown on the field.
The third-round pick was called for an “offensive offsides,” a penalty you’ve probably never heard because it’s so egregious and easy to avoid. It’s football fundamentals. An offensive player has to make sure they are lined up behind the ball. Players even can look to the sideline to get approval from an official on where they are standing before the play begins — which Tolbert claims he did, but we will get to that later.
On TV, even though the blue and yellow lines aren’t technically official, the 2022 draft pick was clearly well in front of the line of scrimmage. He did take a small step back just before the snap, but it clearly was not enough and caused a five-yard loss instead of a nine-yard gain.
Despite what seemed obvious to us, Tolbert seemed confused by the penalty.
Cowboys WR Jalen Tolbert was called for offside. The problem was not that he failed to check with the down judge. It was that he waited. Tolbert didn't look over until 11 seconds left on play clock. Snap came at nine. He moved too little, too late. Learning experience for rookie. pic.twitter.com/xlt23GbBhh
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) November 14, 2022
Cowboys WR Jalen Tolbert tries to explain away embarrassing offsides penalty against Packers
Tolbert claimed he checked with down judge Sarah Thomas. Here’s what he said after the game:
"“I lined up, looked to the side and she told me to back up. I did. And she called a penalty.”"
Is that enough of an excuse? As Michael Gehlken pointed out, it wasn’t that Tolbert didn’t check. It was that he waited so long. The rookie didn’t check until 11 seconds left on the play clock and by the time the ball was snapped at nine seconds, he hadn’t moved enough and wasn’t able to recheck.
Plus, it’s worth wondering why Tolbert was even in the game at such a critical time in the first place.
I'm sure there's a good reason why #Cowboys rookie Jalen Tolbert is in the game at one of the NFL's all-time highest pressure points. But I don't know what it is.
— fishsports (@fishsports) November 14, 2022
The 23-year-old has only played in five games and has only been targeted twice all season. Why was he chosen to be on the field for overtime if he’s been healthy scratched several times this season? That clearly wasn’t the only questionable decision from Kellen Moore and Mike McCarthy from Week 10.
Speaking of McCarthy, the head coach was also apparently disappointed in the embarrassing call, too.
"“I got no explanation. You watched the game. The receivers check with the side all day long. JT told me he checked with the side. I don’t understand the time of that, to be honest with you, you sit there the whole game with that communication . . . everybody does that in pro football, you check, you check every time.“Obviously he must have been in the neutral zone, she called it.”"
Dak Prescott and the offense were able to get past this call but yet another penalty made things ugly once again. The Tolbert situation was just one of many frustrating ones in the 31-28 loss. However, Tolbert and the Cowboys cannot continue to make excuses for undisciplined and poor play. They blew a 14-point lead and that’s not a referee’s fault.
