Analysis
12/15/21
3 min read
Raiders Overtake Cowboys As NFL's Most Penalized Team
Despite a rocky start to Sunday Night Football in Week 14, the Green Bay Packers played a disciplined enough game to stay at the top of the 33rd Team’s Discipline Index with their 45-30 victory over the Chicago Bears. Still, the Seattle Seahawks, the Los Angeles Rams, and others are not far behind the Packers. Green Bay will have a chance to redeem itself in Week 15 against a potentially hobbled Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
Here is how the top 10 of the Discipline Index unfolded heading into Week 15:
As a reminder, The 33rd Team’s Discipline Index combines the number of penalties, penalty yardage and turnovers on a per-game basis in order to show which teams are able to play the most mistake-free football in any given week.
Sitting in the No. 31 slot in the Discipline Index, the Las Vegas Raiders have overtaken No. 32 Dallas Cowboys as the most penalized team in the NFL, earning 8 surrendering 8 penalties per game. After struggling in Week 13 against No. 27 ranked Kansas City, the Raiders are also giving up the most penalty yards of any team each week.
Coming off of a bye in Week 13, the Tennessee Titans were all business against the Jacksonville Jaguars in a 20-0 win. Besides shutting out their opponent, the Titans were also able to play one of their most disciplined games of the season. Tennessee only committed 2 penalties for 15 yards while also not turning the ball over once.
Moreover, Tennessee also forced not one, not two, but four turnovers from the Jaguars throughout the course of this one. Rookie Trevor Lawrence was pressured all day by a tenacious defense. Although the Jaguars have struggled immensely in 2021, this was a great game to have for the Titans after their brutal loss to the New England Patriots in Week 12. Due to this performance, the Titans were able to move up five spots in the Discipline Index, and it is certainly worth watching to see if the Titans’ defense is back to what people saw against the Chiefs and Rams earlier in the year. The Titans will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15.
One matchup to watch in Week 15 is between two teams that currently rank in the top 10 of our Discipline Index. It is a Saturday Night Football matchup between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. Both teams are coming off of a bye in Week 14, and they have both been playing an extremely disciplined brand of football as of late. The Patriots and the Colts are both averaging 1.2 turnovers per game and under 6 penalties per game with Indianapolis only having 4.8 per game, which is the third-lowest amount in the NFL currently. This is a pivotal matchup for both of these teams as the Colts attempt to solidify a wild card spot and maybe even make a late push for the AFC South Division Crown while the Patriots will try to continue to build momentum towards winning not only the AFC East, but the entire AFC as a whole.
