The start of real NFL football is almost here, and with it comes the inevitable hand-wringing over the highly influential decisions of a select few deemed worthy of such glorious power: the referees. While the notion that a referee crew will directly impact the outcome of a game is ludicrous, it’s hard to deny that certain crews have their tendencies, and those tendencies can often play a role in shaping the way the game is played.

That’s why we have the weekly referee report, which looks at the crew calling the Cowboys’ game that week and tracks their tendencies at large and specifically as it relates to the two teams they’ll be calling penalties against that week. And the man on the call for Thursday night’s NFL kickoff game between the Cowboys and the Eagles is Shawn Smith.

Smith will

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