Jerry Jones says penalties should even out for both teams in games

Jerry Jones doesn’t mind providing his opinion on a variety of topics. So it’s not too surprising that the Dallas Cowboys owner gave some thoughts about how penalties should work across the NFL.

In a radio interview with 105.3 The Fan, Jones provided his two cents on how penalties should work. He believes that, in each game, the flags should be about equal for each team.

“Penalties are a big part of this,” Jones said. “Generally, in a given game, if the officiating is ‘what’s good for the goose, good for the gander,’ is the same for both sides, offense [and] defense, then you really haven’t had a game outcome change. And that one the other day [against the Chargers], we all got it equally.”

In Jones’ reference, the Cowboys and Chargers were penalized pretty equally in last week’s Monday Night Football showdown. Dallas ended the game with 11 penalties for 85 yards. The Chargers were flagged nine times for 79 yards.

Is that … really how it should work? You can understand Jones’ point on some level. Throughout the course of a game — at least generally speaking — teams probably commit around the same number of penalties.

But that’s not something officials should worry about throughout the duration of a game. Plus, sometimes, penalties should determine the outcome of a game, if one team lacks discipline.

It’s an interesting thought, but probably not one that should be implemented in the NFL.

Jerry Jones evaluates Cowboys season through six games

Jones made it well known that the Cowboys have Super Bowl ambitions this season. With staff changes and offseason transactions, Dallas hopes to make a deep postseason run.

The Cowboys started off hot, posting a 40-0 win in the opener over the Giants. The next week, they defeated the Jets 30-10. In the last four games, Dallas owns a 2-2 record, which included a 42-10 blowout loss to the 49ers.

So, what does Jones think of this start to the year?

“I’d give it a good grade, a really good grade,” Jones said, per The Athletic’s John Machota. “I wouldn’t want to start over again this year. I like where we are at 4-2.”

It’s not a bad spot, but Dallas could probably do without that 32-point loss to San Francisco. Fortunately for the Cowboys, the season hasn’t even reached the halfway mark. There’s still plenty of time to improve and start looking like a Super Bowl contender.