Football fans were outraged over an obscene number of penalties called on Sunday Night Football between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers that led to nearly 100 more combined penalty yards than combined rushing yards.

Officials called a combined 22 penalties on the two sides that totaled an unnecessary 204 penalty yards on the night. Meanwhile, the teams only rushed for 105.

Among the worst decisions by the crew led by referee Craig Wrolstad were two of the 15-yard penalties called on the Packers.

The first was a taunting penalty called on Green Bay receiver Matthew Golden, who committed the unforgivable crime of flexing after picking up 37 yards on a pass from quarterback Jordan Love.

Rather than set up at the Cowboys 9-yard-line, the officials moved Green Bay back to the Dallas 24. It took the Packers eight plays, two of which involved flags on the offense, to finally reach the end zone.

The second was a roughing the passer call in the fourth-quarter that wiped off a Packers interception on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

Prescott intended to find receiver Jonathan Mingo, only for the ball to be snagged by Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine, who then returned it all the way into Cowboys territory.

However, Packers pass rusher Lukas Van Ness made contact with Prescott, which sent the quarterback falling to the ground. Even though Van Ness seemed in close enough proximity that there would be no penalty – and that it seemed Prescott flopped considering the light contact he received – officials flagged the Packers star anyway.

Despite what these examples may suggest, Dallas was actually the more penalized team - getting hit for 108 yards to Green Bay's 96. Both teams were hit with 11 penalties a piece.

Fans and media members were irate over the never ending barrage of flags that dragged on a lopsided 23-13 Packers win to near-midnight on the east coast.

'The unnecessary taunting calls, roughing the passer calls, illegal contact calls…the game has been ruined by the officiating. Now I know why football promotes gambling so hard now. The product is unwatchable by itself,' wrote one user on X. 

'Was this the National Flag Football League Roger Goodell had in mind?' wrote New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica.

Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde posted: 'How much do we have to pay someone to get this Sunday night game over with.'

Sports analytics guru Erik Haslam joked: 'Official[s] calling this one like the last one not to throw a flag buys the first round.'

At the time of publishing, there were 279 accepted penalties in Week 6 of 2026 – now officially the second-most in NFL history. 

This week surpasses the previous second-place finisher: Week 4 of this same season, which had 271 penalties.

There is one game remaining in Week 6: Monday Night Football between the Washington Commanders and the San Francisco 49ers. 

If 19 penalties are called in that game, Week 6's total will rise to 298 penalties – which will tie the record for most accepted penalties in one week set in Week 2 of 2015.