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When Lions head coach Dan Campbell looks back at the 2021 season in Detroit, one of the things that will surely bother him was the volume of presnap penalties committed by his young team. No NFL team was guilty of more presnap penalties than Campbell’s Lions in 2021.
The Lions held a slight lead over the Cleveland Browns entering Week 18, 46 to 45. Each team was guilty of one, with OLB Julian Okwara committing a neutral zone infraction on defense for the Lions, giving the Packers a fourth-down conversion in the process. Detroit’s 47 were 13 more than the 2020 Lions committed, though they did play one extra game in 2021.
For the season, rookie right tackle Penei Sewell led the Lions with five, all of them false starts. Tight end T.J. Hockenson and left tackle Taylor Decker had four false starts apiece.
It was an issue coach Campbell mentioned in postgame press conferences a few times
On the positive front, the Lions were better overall in penalties. Detroit was flagged for 105 total accepted penalties, 18th in the league. Between penalties assessed to the Lions and the opponent, Detroit had a net penalty yardage differential of minus-6, 16th in the league. No team was closer to even on penalty yardage differential than the Lions.
All data is from NFL Penalties.