IRVING, Texas -- To help with the crowd noise last week against the Philadelphia Eagles the Dallas Cowboys went to a silent snap count.
The result was a season-high four false starts, three from Doug Free and one from Ronald Leary.
The Cowboys had right guard Brian Waters tap rookie center Travis Frederick when Tony Romo called for the ball.
“We’ve had to change it up a little bit,” Frederick said. “It’s been a good change up. We had some issues in Kansas City in the way we were doing it, so we changed it up and I think it will continue to change a little bit. Obviously you don’t want anybody to key up on it.”
Offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Bill Callahan did not put the false starts on the silent count, but he believes there is a benefit for Frederick to be able to keep his eye on the defensive front the entire time before the snap.
“A lot of guys when they work the silent count put their head between their legs and they’ll wait and they’ll hold up for the duration of the cadence at times,” Callahan said. “This just allows him to work different tempos and different speeds while also being able to see the field and make his calls and make his adjustments. A lot of times when those guys put their heads down there’s a lot of scheming that’s going on and there’s some missed calls and miscommunication and a lot of times your guards have to take control of the calls then. This has the ability to do both.”
In three games at Ford Field, the visitors have had only four false-start penalties, but the Cincinnati Bengals had three with two coming on one drive late in the fourth quarter last week.