It’s fair to say the Dallas Cowboys came into Sunday’s road game against the Indianapolis Colts with one goal: get a win. They accomplished that with a 27-23 victory, but it took a late fourth-quarter drive to secure it.

Dallas was called for an incredible 14 penalties for 153 yards. That, along with an inability to put Indianapolis away earlier, left some NFL observers wondering what in the world was going on with the Cowboys.

NFL World Shares Thoughts on Cowboys’ Sloppy Win

After Indianapolis took a 23-20 lead with 1:37 remaining, Dak Prescott hit Ryan Flournoy for a 46-yard completion on Dallas’ ensuing drive. The play helped set up running back Javonte Williams for the go-ahead 1-yard touchdown with 1:08 left.

Still, some NFL observers did not think the game should have come down to that moment.

Longtime NFL reporter Charean Williams, who has seen a few Cowboys games during her career, was not impressed by what she saw Sunday.

“The Cowboys are such a dumb, undisciplined football team. They have 14 penalties for 153 yards. This would be a rout otherwise,” Williams wrote on X.

Former ESPN NFL reporter Ed Werder, now a Cowboys insider for Dallas television station WFAA, also commented on Dallas’ penalty problems against Indianapolis.

“The Cowboys have season-high 14 penalties for 153 yards — not counting all the yardage lost on plays nullified,” Werder wrote.

Dan Rogers, who co-hosts one of the “Blogging The Boys” podcasts, also reacted to the steady stream of flags.

Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown was inactive because of injury, and Rogers used the unusual scene of an inactive player drawing attention during a celebration to sum up how chaotic the afternoon had become.

“The Cowboys have gotten just about every type of penalty possible in this game. Even players who aren’t playing are getting flagged for stuff,” Rogers wrote.

One Cowboys follower was similarly frustrated with the lack of discipline.

“BS (Brian Schottenheimer) has the Cowboys so undisciplined that players who aren’t even playing are getting penalties,” the fan wrote.

WFAA broadcaster Mike Leslie also pointed out how sloppy Dallas looked.

“This is a ridiculously sloppy performance by the Cowboys. A seemingly endless string of penalties… and now a second turnover as well,” Leslie wrote.

RJ Ochoa, manager and editor-in-chief of “Blogging The Boys,” was not impressed by how Dallas played throughout the game.

“Idk how this is going to end for the Cowboys. But that it is this close this late against this Colts team is pretty representative of how bad things are overall these days,” Ochoa wrote.

Despite the sloppy performance, Dallas, whose offense ranks fourth on PFN’s Offense Impact Metric, escaped Indianapolis with a win, improving to 4-5 overall and 3-2 on the road.

The Colts fell to 2-7 overall and 1-3 at home. With the NFL trade deadline looming Tuesday, attention now turns to Indianapolis’ next moves, with Jonathan Taylor, Grover Stewart, Keenan Allen, Josh Downs, and Daniel Jones among the players who have generated trade interest.