Cowboys' rising special teamer puts NFL officiating on blast after wrong call
Juanyeh Thomas' name was called for all the right reasons in Week 1 when he blocked a field goal that was returned for a touchdown. In Week 3's disappointing loss, his name was called by the officials at the worst possible time for the worst possible reason: An offsides penalty during the Arizona Cardinals' field […]
Juanyeh Thomas' name was called for all the right reasons in Week 1 when he blocked a field goal that was returned for a touchdown. In Week 3's disappointing loss, his name was called by the officials at the worst possible time for the worst possible reason:
An offsides penalty during the Arizona Cardinals' field goal attempt in the second quarter right after the two-minute warning. The flag called on Thomas moved the chains and although the defense delivered another stop, the offense got about thirty fewer seconds to work with before halftime. That's about five fewer plays, which logically affects how coaches, in this case, Mike McCarthy, call the game.
But what makes the sequence so much worse is that upon watching the replay, Juanyeh Thomas wasn't really lined up offsides. The rising special teamer let the world know all about it after the game on Sunday.
Thomas took to Twitter/X to send two posts taking aim at NFL officiating. The first one was a simple quote tweet saying that he wasn't offside.
In a follow-up tweet, he backed it up with some tape. From the All-22 angle, it's very clear Thomas never crosses the line of scrimmage. Naturally, he responded with an expressive GIF.
When watching more closely, it seems that Thomas is trying to get the perfect jump and drops his hand to the ground and slightly leans forward (without being offsides), which is probably the motion that actually led to a ref mistakenly throwing the flag.
Ultimately, as frustrating as it might be, the Cowboys didn't lose to the Cardinals because of this moment. A non-existent defense and an underwhelming red zone offense did the trick. However, it seems relevant to point out that one of the promising young players on special teams didn't actually commit a highly costly foul in a high-stakes play like that.
"I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to speak on it but I'm not going to," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said about the officiating postgame.
Thomas remains a bright spot from the Cowboys' season three weeks in. I understand that won't calm anyone's anger after such a disappointing loss but fair is fair.
Featured image via Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
