Cowboys flagged for uncharacteristic five holding calls against Redskins

The Dallas Cowboys have what’s regarded as one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.

But they were flagged for an uncharacteristically number of holding penalties in Sunday’s 33-19 victory over the Washington Redskins.

All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith had two holding penalties (and a false start). Left guard Jonathan Cooper, right tackle La’el Collins and tight end Jason Witten also were flagged for holding calls.

“Obviously they were a story,” coach Jason Garrett said. “It was difficult for us to get into any rhythm. We felt like we were doing good things offensively. There were some things we could get to both in the running game and passing game. … But had a touchdown called back. All of those things were hard to overcome.”

Yes, the most significant penalty happened midway through the third quarter. Leading 17-13, the Cowboys had just taken over on the Redskins 26 after recovering a fumble on a kickoff return.

On the first play of the drive, running back Ezekiel Elliott took it 26 yards to the end zone. But Smith was called for a holding penalty that nullified the score and the Cowboys ended up settling for a field goal on the drive.

Smith appeared to keep his hands inside and execute a textbook pancake block on the play, but the penalty was called nonetheless. Elliott disagreed with the call.

“That was a little iffy,” Elliott said. “They might have robbed us right there, but we’ve just got to clean stuff up.”

Cooper and Witten had holding penalties on the same drive in the first half that resulted in a field goal.

On the next drive, Collins had a holding penalty on first down and the Cowboys went three-and-out. Late in the first half, Smith was called for holding on a second down of another three-and-out drive.

Smith has been called for three holding penalties through seven games this season. He was called for holding a career-high four times last season. It marked the second holding calls of the season for Collins and Cooper, meanwhile.

“We definitely don’t practice that. It’s out of character,” Cooper said. “When you play in a game, stuff happens. We definitely aim to eliminate that.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Cowboys flagged for uncharacteristic five holding calls against Redskins."