Mailbag: How can the Cowboys reduce penalties?

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

The Cowboys have committed 74 penalties, which is tied for the second most in the NFL this year. Also, they have been penalized for 667 yards, which is the most in the NFL. How can the Cowboys reduce their penalties? Is it due to a lack of discipline? Do the coaches need to do something different? – Marty Monforte/Endicott, NY

Mickey: This is a weird statistical category, and by the way the Cowboys 74 penalties has them in a three-way tie for second most, Cleveland at 82 has the lead. But you know what, when it comes to opponent penalties, the Cowboys have been the beneficiaries of the most received at 85 and most yards 697, that's 30 more than their league-high of the 667 yards against you mention. Go figure the symmetry of that. Even a tad more surprising, the Cowboys have been flagged for 48 of their 74 penalties on the road. What's up with that? Well, as for the coaches, guys know what penalties are, though at least one of those offensive P.I.s called on CeeDee Lamb in Indy was pretty bogus. And my theory on most penalties, they are committed by players getting beat, like holding – offense and defense – and pass interference for the most part. And since the ball isn't round, hard to control those "dirty" kickoffs when trying to land the ball past the 20 and outside the numbers without the oblong ball bouncing out of bounds. And when coming to pre-snap penalties the Cowboys 19 tie them for sixth fewest, so counter to that undisciplined theory floating out there.

Tommy: I think it's a combination of different things based on the kinds of penalties. The most inexcusable are the pre-snap penalties that can be prevented, like false starts, and Dallas only had two of those against the Colts which is a step in the right direction. You also just simply can't have penalties like DeMarvion Overshown running onto the field and getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That's on players to be able to make sure they're doing their jobs correctly, are on the same page and ultimately don't cost the team yardage. The other sorts of penalties you come across are combative penalties that happen in the heat of the game, like holding, pass interference, etc. That's on both players and Brian Schottenheimer's staff to be able to coach around different techniques players can use to avoid those penalties. Clearly up to this point in the season, it's been a constant thorn in Dallas' side and something that they'll need to clean up if they want to beat teams like the 49ers, who have had the fourth-least penalties accepted against them in the NFL this season.