Penalties have been an issue that has often plagued the Dallas Cowboys in recent years. During the 2021 season Dallas led the league in penalties with a whopping 141 committed.

It was also penalties that derailed Dallas’ championship ambitions prematurely in the playoffs. During the Cowboys 23-17 loss against the 49ers, Dallas repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with penalties. Dallas committed 14 penalties for 89 yards and had several positive plays wiped out by such penalties.

While Dallas is still a high penalty team this season (89 on the year) they have been playing much more mistake free football over the last two games. Over the last two weeks Dallas has only committed 6 penalties. This sudden drop in penalties can be partially credited to the development of some of the younger players. The Dallas Cowboys came into the 2022 season with the 4th youngest roster in the entire NFL with an average age of 25 years 9 months and 5 days. Young players often make mistakes early on but now with 13 games worth of NFL experience young contributors such as Sam Williams and Daron Bland are now accustomed to how refs officiate NFL games and have a better understanding of what they can and can not get away with. McCarthy has placed an emphasis on playing disciplined football for since the offseason, and while the Cowboys did not live up to that standard early on they appear to be on the right track now. If the Cowboys are able to continue to play clean football they will be a tough out for any team.