Dallas Cowboys clock operator screwup leads to delay of game penalty

The Dallas Cowboys were screwed over by their clock operator during Sunday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the mistake resulted in a penalty.

Tight end Jason Witten caught a pass on 1st-and-10 in the fourth quarter and took it down to the Philly 33 for a gain of 34 yards. Witten was brought down with around 5:25 left in the game. The clock error occurred when the operator reset the play clock to 25 instead of 40 after the play. When the Cowboys were setting up their next play, the officials blew the whistle and flagged them for delay of game around the 4:52 mark, around 30 seconds later.

The penalty put the Cowboys in a 1st-and-15 situation at the Philly 38. Luckily they scored a 32-yard touchdown on 4th-and-9 when Dez Bryant took a slant pass to the house, but the delay of game cost them the yards and possibly altered the playcalling. It was a really bad and unlucky break for them, and certainly the kind of thing you don’t expect to see happen to a home team.