Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys return home from Chicago licking their wounds, but Micah Parsons returns home licking his chops. The Packers are certainly motivated after losing to the Browns at the last second in Week 3, and they’re understandably big favorites. Could the referee assignment impact that, though?
Before we dive into the crew calling Sunday night’s prime time engagement, let’s see how the Cowboys have fared with the zebras thus far this year.
The Cowboys have been the less penalized team in all three games so far, and they’re drawing considerably fewer penalty yards too. In fact, Dallas is currently 17th in the league in total penalties, a major reversal from the last few years. Interestingly, seven of their 20 penalties have come on special teams; Dallas is tied for the third-most special teams penalties, while their offense and defense are both in the bottom 10.
The Packers, meanwhile, are tied for the fifth-most penalties so far. Unlike the Cowboys, they’ve been spread pretty evenly between offense, defense, and special teams, which usually indicates the team is overall undisciplined. Notably, Parsons is tied for the team lead in penalties with three.
That will be an interesting dynamic to monitor in this game, especially because the crew for Sunday night is led by the notoriously pro-homefield advantage referee Ron Torbert.
Entering his 12th year as a head referee and 16th total as an official in the NFL, Torbert has built a pretty strong reputation for calling things right down the middle. While some officials tend to be more lenient on the home team or road team, or be super vigilant or super lenient overall, Torbert’s tenure has been marked by a call-it-as-he-sees-it attitude.
That’s led to wide variances in terms of total penalties called, but often being pretty even between the home and away team. The last two years, Torbert’s crew was in the top three of crews in total flags thrown, but the year before he was in the middle of the pack; the year before that, Torbert was in the bottom three in flags. Very rarely has there been a huge discrepancy between the home and road teams.
In short, Torbert will throw the flag if he sees a penalty, with not much care given to who committed said penalty. Undisciplined teams will get more flags, and disciplined teams won’t have to worry much. That’s usually how it goes with this crew, and that usually translates to a strong record for the home team. In his career, Torbert has seen the home team go 111-74, one of the best records for any referee.
However, that hasn’t extended to the Cowboys, though it should be noted they’re not usually falling into the category of “disciplined teams.” Overall, the Cowboys are 3-7 with Torbert and specifically 1-6 at home. Their last two games with Torbert came against the Packers in the Wild Card round back in 2023 and then last year against the Ravens, both blowout losses.
Meanwhile, the Packers are 7-5...
