Tag: nfl penalties

Bills one of most penalized teams in 2019, opponents among least

Referees were not nice to the Buffalo Bills last season.

The Buffalo Bills had some tough penalties go against them in their playoff loss to the Houston Texans. The first that comes to mind is an illegal block by offensive lineman Cody Ford. That play had many Bills fans up in arms because the penalty in overtime took the Bills out of field goal range. The Texans went on to win the game a short while later.

But was the penalty a fluke, or something more? Maybe more.

This should be an area Buffalo works on cleaning up in 2020, but last season the Bills were flagged 124 times for penalties. In total, the Bills lost 991 yards on these plays. That 124 numbers was a tie for the sixth-most in the NFL.

Of course, that’s not the end all, be all, however, the less, the better. The Bills are not in a place where the other team with 124 penalties are. That lone team is the defending Super Bowl winning Chiefs. Their team has a prolific offense that can overcome such flags. But there’s more to this dynamic than just penalties the Bills took.

In addition to too many flags flying against the Bills, not that many were against the Bills’ opponent. In total, Bills’ foes were flagged 98 total times, or the fourth-fewest amount of times last season. Overall, opponents lost 835 yards on flags.

The Bills can only worry about themselves, and that’s what Sean McDermott should tell his team. But… maybe the referees should be nicer to the Bills, too? Make you wonder…

 

All penalty data is courtesy of NFL Penalties. 

 

[lawrence-related id=64476,64383,64411,64408]

Pass interference reviews and challenges appear to be going away

Pass interference reviews and challenges appear to be going away

[jwplayer lVClwfSW-ThvAeFxT]

In the 2019 NFL season, coaches were allowed to challenge pass interference penalties for the first time. The ability to question a judgment call was a trial balloon that was not popular with officials and wasn’t effective in between the sidelines.

Now it appears the ability to challenge pass interference situations is a one-and-done. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported on Monday that the NFL is not expected to continue the controversial practice into a second season.

Based on the results from the first year, killing the procedure makes sense. Just 24 of 101 replay reviews resulted in a change, and not a single case of defensive pass interference being called on the field that was challenged was overturned.

The NFL surveyed teams about the rule after the one-year trial in 2019. The results were unfavorable for continuing, to say the least.

“An overwhelming number of those who were asked did not believe that this rule should come back,” Rapoport cited.

Browns remain the runaway NFL leader in negative penalty yard differential

The Browns have lost over 100 more net yards to penalties than any other team

[jwplayer CyWAa1YN-ThvAeFxT]

Penalties remain a major problem for the Cleveland Browns. The team was on a bit of a positive surge with more disciplined play coming out of the bye week until everything hit the fan at the end of the Week 11 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The fracas at FirstEnergy Stadium last Thursday spiked away the progress and vaulted the Browns well back into the lead for most penalty yards. Cleveland has been flagged for a total of 822 yards, the most in the league. Oakland is next at 779.

Where the penalties really hit home is in penalty yardage differential. Cleveland has lost a net of 334 yards on assessed penalties in 2019. That’s more than 100 yards worse than the Raiders, who are also second-worst in that figure. Arizona and Oakland have been guilty of more total penalties, but the Browns’ yardage is much worse thanks to personal fouls and pass interference calls.

If you’re looking for a silver lining, the team has committed just one pre-snap penalty on offense in the last three weeks.

[lawrence-related id=37191]

Browns cannot shy away from physical play despite Myles Garrett incident

If the Cleveland Browns want to keep winning they cannot shy away from physical play despite Myles Garrett/Mason Rudolph incident

[jwplayer 6Q40ShvH-ThvAeFxT]

The Cleveland Browns and Head Coach Freddie Kitchens face a dilemma. Having lacked an identity for the first six games of the 2019 season, they found a physical edge against the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers. They went out and dominated Pittsburgh even before “the incident” at the end of the game.

Undisciplined, inexperienced, immature and emotional will be the words used to describe Kitchen’s team, while wins & losses will ultimately be what decides his fate. He has to find a way to keep that edge while avoiding incidents like what occurred on Thursday Night. He has to limit penalties while maintaining the physicality that helped them dominate the Pittsburgh.

The truth is that the Steelers and Ravens have won this way for years in the AFC North. 

The Browns being the physical aggressor is a role reversal of sorts and presents Kitchens with the Identity he has been looking for. Of course, this sort of approach has taken on a different light considering what happened with Myles Garrett. Still it should not deter the Browns from buying-in on their physical style of play. Below is a chart of how often the Ravens and the Steelers have finished in the NFL’s top ten for unnecessary roughness penalties since 2012 (via NFLPenalties.com).

Are the Ravens and Steelers considered dirty teams? I don’t know. Do they do a good deal of winning? Most definitely.

[lawrence-related id=37270]