Penalties are not the best predictor of a team’s success. Officials seem to try to keep calls pretty balanced. To some extent, penalties can be a by-product of aggressive play. But they also can reflect mental errors, a disorganized unit, and individual mismatches. Thus, analyzing specific penalty trends can reveal some of a team’s weaknesses. They are also one way to evaluate players and the abilities of a coaching staff. That said, here are some facts and figures about Browns penalties through the first seven games, and I’ll let them speak for themselves.
Most penalized players (excluding declined and offset penalties):
- 5 -- Kevin Bentley, Ross Verba
- 4 -- Joaquin Gonzalez, Ryan Tucker
- 3 -- Kelvin Garmon, Jeff Garcia, Andra Davis.
Selected players with zero penalties: William Green, Lee Suggs, Jeff Faine, Enoch DeMar, Orpheus Roye, Michael Myers, Anthony Henry, Daylon McCutcheon.
The Browns have been penalized fewer times (52 vs. 59) for fewer yards (411 vs. 522) than their opponents.
The Browns committed between six and eight penalties in each of their first six games. Today they had 10, but it was still one fewer than the Eagles.
The Browns’ average accepted penalty has cost them 7.9 yards vs. 8.9 for their opponents.
Other Browns penalties:
- declined by opponent: 9
- offset by opponent fouls: 4.
Penalties by type:
- false start: 12
- offensive holding: 11
- personal foul: 6
- illegal block/hold on special teams: 5
- encroachment/offsides: 4
- defensive holding/illegal contact: 3
- illegal formation: 3.
Players with more than one personal foul: 0.
Penalties by unit:
- offense: 30
- defense: 12
- special teams: 10.