NFL Officiating Bias

So as a long suffering Cowboys fan, but also a NFL fan who watches a lot of NFL games (some might say, too many games), the NFL Officiating bias against the Cowboys is incredible.  Now in general we all know the NFL officiating is horrible.  In the previous post I discussed the replacement refs versus the "regular" NFL refs.  And everyone can pick out one or two plays that went in the Cowboys favor, because that does happen, although rarely.  

But to understand the bias, you have to examine trends over long periods of time to gather the necessary data points.  As a fan who watches the Cowboys, the bias against Dallas is evident, but I know a lot of people like the talking heads at ESPN who never do any real work and hate the Cowboys (apparently a prerequisite for employment at Bristol) need to have the data spoon fed to them.  So I did a little research, and the numbers came out as I would've expected, except for one outlier, which even in itself became explainable.  

The data listed below are straight from NFL.com and have not been altered.  I went back 7 years and reviewed Penalties Data for "number of penalties called against Dallas" in the regular season and the Cowboys' respective rank in this category.  
However, as I have stated before, to me the "no calls" that do not get called against the opposing team when playing Dallas is just as relevant.  Just like the recent game against Pittsburgh ( Steelers were called for ZERO penalties.  Really?  Zero?, for 60 minutes +, and not one Steeler did anything?!  Don't want to get on that soap box again). 
So I also took the same period of time, last 7 years, and pulled the "average number of penalties called against a Cowboys opponent" and the respective rank.  
The data is unmistakeable.  The NFL officiating bias against the Cowboys over the long term can not be missed.  The numbers don't lie, the bias is there.  
Take a look for yourself.

Cowboys No. of Penalties per year and Rank (2012 through week 15 of regular season)

Cowboys	No. of Penalties	Penalty Yds	Rank
2012	111	815	1
2011	114	816	5
2010	109	863	6
2009	115	892	5
2008	119	952	1
2007	104	815	8
*2006	100	939	12
*2005	99	739	25

Cowboys Opponents’ Average Number of Penalties per game and Rank

Opp Penalty/Game	Rank
5.8	24
5.3	29
4.9	30
5.7	18
5.4	18
5.2	24
5.6	18
8.9	1

*Bill Parcells Coached Cowboys

So as we look at the numbers..... the Cowboys always rank in the top 8 for most penalties in a year and always have over 100 penalties.... oh wait, except for one year.  Which just happens to be a Bill Parcells year (from New York and loved by the New York led NFL).

Then let's look at the other point which is just as important.... the "no calls" by the refs against the teams when they play the Cowboys.  So when other teams play the Cowboys, they just automatically get better during that one week.  And always have less penalties called on them?  All on their own?  The NFL Officials have nothing to do with it?  With of course the exception of the Parcell's year where we ranked 1st.  Amazing.

Well I can go on and on, but the data is there and is unmistakeable.  Either the NFL, individual refs or maybe a combination of both, do everything they can to make the Cowboys lose and keep them from being a viable post season team.  
Is officiating the only problem?  No.  
Is Jerry Jones and some of his ignorant GM moves to blame? Yes.  
But in a league where parity is so prevalent, the kind of Officiating bias that the Cowboys have to deal with year after year, easily can make the difference between an 8-8 team and a 10-6 team which makes the playoffs.

This NFL bias against the Cowboys has to end.  The only way I know to begin, is by exposing the NFL cheating.  Read this blog/post and copy and paste to as many places as  you can find.  Get the information out.

Stop the Bias of NFL Officiating Crews

Every call was scrutinized.  Every discussion or delay of the game was discussed for hours on ESPN.  Every mistake was presented as though the fate of mankind was doomed.  That was during the "Replacement" NFL Refs brief tenure.  Yet now I watch hours (too many hours some might say) of NFL football, and the officiating crews are horrible.  They make simple mistakes, there is no consistency in the penalties and in every game there seems to be a distinct bias toward one team.  This occurs not only with the penalties they call on one team, but the obvious "no calls" for the opposing team.  But I wake the next morning, to find no discussion of the NFL officiating crews by ESPN or any other sports network.  All of the mistakes, all of the bumbling around/delay of games, all of the obvious bias toward one team or another, everything is just dismissed and ignored.  

Really?!  It's OK for the "professional" refs who are getting paid huge money to work part time to make egregious mistakes?  But it wasn't OK for the replacement refs to make mistakes?  This obviously seems backward to me.  Why not give the replacement refs a little slack but be really hard on the permanent refs?

I can use numerous games throughout the weekend to demonstrate the bias, but I'll use the Sunday Night Game of Cowboys versus the Eagles, as it is most recent.

Total penalties:
Cowboys - 7 for 60 yards
Eagles - 1 for 5 yards

I'm not saying that it's impossible for one team to have only one penalty while the other team has 7.  But I'm saying I watched the game and some of the 7 penalties for the Cowboys were borderline calls that could go either way (call or no call) while the Eagles committed several blatant penalties that were never called even though the "professional refs" were starring directly at the infraction.  It was an obvious bias on the part of the refs in favor of the Eagles.  And while part of my rant is the lack of coverage by the media for the horrible officiating, I do need to give props to Chris Collinsworth, who pointed out several times how badly the referees were performing.

Not only is the terrible officiating a blot on the NFL, but the outcome of games continually are affected by this constant bias by refs. 
Let me give an example:
Cowboys are in the Red Zone, DeMarco Murray gets a good run up the middle to the 1 or 2 yard line.  Refs call a holding penalty which for all intensive purposes kills the drive and forces the Cowboys to settle for a field goal instead of a go ahead touchdown (loss of 4 points).  When replayed, the commentators couldn't find any Cowboys player guilty of holding.  Then on the very next possession by the Eagles, they are in the Red Zone on the 10 yard line, Bryce Brown gets the carry, there is a blatant hold by one of the Eagles offensive linemen, which allows Brown to run into the red zone untouched for a TD.  Seven points plus the 4 taken away from the Cowboys and you have the referees falsely creating an 11 point differential.

You see this bias in game after game.  It's one thing if a particular officiating crew is calling the game "close", or if another crew is calling it "loosely".  That's fine, that's just human.  But for the crew to call it "tight" for one team and "loose" for the other is just cheating. 

I don't know if this is:

1. NFL trying to control the outcome of certain games so TV viewership will remain high - ie. without the referees the Cowboys/Eagles game would've been a blowout.  The Cowboys won, but the Referees kept the game close and therefore "interesting" to watch so people wouldn't turn the channel and thereby keep the ratings high throughout the game for advertising revenue for the NFL.
2. NFL controlling the outcome of games so they can arrange which teams go to the playoffs and Superbowls.
3. Gambling/organized Crime is involved to effect the spread.
4. Or Referees have teams they favor (or dislike) and therefore let their individual bias interfere with the integrity of the game.

But whatever the reason, something needs to be done to stop this constant calamity each week.  It should start with the media beating up the "professional" refs just as much as they did the replacement refs.  This will start an open dialogue and bring these biased and game changing refs to the forefront.  Only with this attention will anything change.  As long as we sit here week after week and ignore the atrocities that occur every week, the integrity of the NFL will continue to erode.