Cowboys blast officials for not calling fumble by Cardinals’ Chase Edmonds: ‘Playing more against the refs than other teams’

Cowboys defensive players felt way outnumbered during a key moment against the Cardinals on Sunday — as in, both Arizona players and the officials against them.

With just under three minutes left in the game, Cardinals running back Chase Edmonds appeared to fumble at the end of a 6-yard rush to the Dallas 29. The Cowboys recovered, but the officials ruled that Edmonds was down by contact in bounds before the fumble. That allowed the Cardinals to maintain possession and for the clock to continue rolling.

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Dallas was out of timeouts and therefore was unable to challenge the ruling on the field. On the next play, quarterback Kyler Murray rushed 9 yards for a first down at the two-minute warning. He took three knees from there and the Cards went on to defeat the Cowboys 25-22.

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Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch was among the Cowboys players who were certain the call on the field was incorrect.

“It was totally a fumble, and I just don’t understand how, with the technology we have nowadays, even if we don’t have timeouts or whatever it may be,” Vander Esch said after the game. “To me, we’re playing more against the refs than other teams.”

“We got to keep battling with everybody, not just the other team, if you catch my drift,” Vander Esche added.

“The refs, I feel like, dictated the game. It’s no secret,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said.

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Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence said there was a possibility the Cowboys will see “both teams” in the playoffs, an allusion to the officiating crew also being an opponent.

On the play, it looked as though Edmonds began to lose possession of the ball before he hit the ground. Defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa fell on the ball as Edmonds rolled out of bounds with the ball sitting inside the field of play.

But because Dallas was out of timeouts and the clock was not under two minutes, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was unable to throw his challenge flag.

The Cowboys had to use their first timeout of the second half with 4:04 remaining when the Cardinals sent both Murray and kicker Matt Prater out onto the field on fourth-and-5 from the Dallas 8. The Cardinals were ahead 19-7 at the time and the Dallas defense wasn’t sure whether to defend against a field goal or a potential fourth-down play.

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McCarthy then had to use another timeout after another questionable call on an Edmonds run. Edmonds rushed 11 yards to the right sideline and looked to have been tackled out of bounds, but the call on the field was that he was brought down in bounds, which kept the clock running.

The loss was a major blow to the Cowboys (11-5), who fell from the second seed in the NFC playoff field to the fourth seed, below the Packers, Rams and Buccaneers.