Eagles-Cowboys game will be officiated by the same crew that missed the obvious facemask on Dallas Goedert

Hey.

Remember the officiating crew that missed a very obvious facemask call on Dallas Goedert that caused him to fumble and get hurt in the Philadelphia Eagles’ loss to the Washington Commanders?

You know, the one with the ref who decided to throw a flag after Brandon Graham was unable to become Neo from The Matrix and stop his momentum as he was already gearing up to contact Taylor Heinicke before the quarterback decided to take a knee in the backfield?

Yeah, well, that group is assigned to the Eagles’ Week 16 game against the Dallas Cowboys (hat tip to Jimmy Kempski).

Alex Kemp is the name of the head of the crew. The Eagles are 1-2 in three games that Kemp has served as referee. Here’s a look at the history:

• Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Week 2 of the 2018 season: Loss
• Eagles at New York Giants, Week 17 of the 2019 season: Win (to clinch the NFC East)
• Eagles vs. Washington Commanders, Week 10 of the 2022 season: Loss

The Eagles were penalized more often than their opponent in each of those three matchups. The total counts:

Eagles penalties — 20 for 185 yards
Opponent penalties — 15 for 150 yards

It’s not like extensive evidence is there to suggest Kemp and his crew are biased against the Birds.

The mistakes that were made in the Commanders game, however, leave reason for concern entering this week’s matchup. The missed facemask on Goedert was egregiously awful. The fact that Kemp is officiating Goedert’s first game back from injury feels like a cruel twist of fate.

Of course, it’s possible Kemp’s crew could make a bad call that goes in the Eagles’ favor. We’ll see.

But seeing his name involved in this matchup is hardly comforting.