Cowboys vs. 49ers Playoffs: Can Dallas Keep the Referees Out of It?

Are the Cowboys prepared to do what is necessary ... even if that means overcoming the refs?

ARLINGTON - Will the refs determine the difference?

The Dallas Cowboys are playoff-bound for the first time since 2018 and will host a familiar old foe, the San Francisco 49ers, in the Wild Card round in front of an expected energetic crowd on Sunday afternoon.

Also in the building today: Referee Alex Kemp, with an "all-star crew'' of zebras.

Are the Cowboys prepared to do what is necessary ... even if that means overcoming the refs?

Said Demarcus Lawrence, you will remember, after a late-season loss to the Cardinals: “It’s a possibility we see both of these teams in the playoffs.”

For the Cowboys fan slow on the uptake: Tank was talking about opposing the referees who some guys in this locker room believe pick on "America's Team.''

From that same postgame scene came Randy Gregory's assertion that Dallas was "Playing against the refs again, like usual. It seems like an every-week occurrence. We just have to tune that out and just deal with it.”

Even Dak Prescott fell into this trap.

Said the Cowboys quarterback: “We’ve got to do a better job of trying to keep (the referees) out of it, but … I’ve become accustomed to it. I understand wearing the star and what it means.”

So what about this particular ref? And what about the tendencies of the Cowboys and 49ers as it relates to flags?

The Cowboys led the NFL with 127 penalties, including a league-high 27 for offensive holding. 

The 49ers were called for 20 defensive pass interference penalties, most in the league and twice as many as Dallas’ 10.

This game will be officiated by Kemp, who oversaw the crew that flagged the Cowboys seven times for 60 yards in their Dec. 12 wins at Washington. 

When he’s not pooping the party, Kemp is apparently an insurance agent. ... and we would certainly like some insurance against him becoming "the show'' today.

The Cowboys can take care of that, as they are fresh off one of their better offensive performances in Saturday's 51-26 win at Philadelphia. Dallas clinched its playoff spot and NFC East title before Week 16. Dallas finished with 12 wins, their most since 2016 when they went 13-3 and earned a first-round bye.

Cowboys Nation will notice that nobody brought up the refs after a 51-26 win. Wonder why not?

Our point is not that the officials don't "influence'' games; of course they do. But teams that play well enough to win - which the Cowboys did not do in that ref-gripe Arizona game - usually don't have to worry about a ref making one bad call.

Because a good team will have just executed 100 or so good plays.

The 49ers' path to the playoffs had more last-week dramatic. San Francisco didn’t lock up the playoff spot until the final day of the season with an impressive comeback win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Will the Cowboys opportunistic defense be able to handle Swiss Army knife Deebo Samuel? Is Dallas' balanced offense, which ranks first in points and total yards in the NFL, going to come together for a postseason push? And what about this "bully ball'' baloney?

The NFL casting department couldn't have come up with a more must-watch, nostalgia-inducing scenario. One simply hopes that guys like Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons (and, to be fair, Deebo and company) get to be the stars of the show ... meaning we don't have to hear too much from Kemp during the game and meaning we don't have to hear too much whining from the losing team after the game.

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