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Jim Tomlin has nearly 30 years of experience in journalism, having worked at such publications as the Tampa Bay Times, FanRag, Saturdays Down South and Saturday Tradition. He is a contributing writer and editor for BetMaryland.com.
Do Top 5 Most Penalized NFL Teams Make Playoffs?
It is often a thin line between being physical and being too physical in the NFL. Going over that line can lead to costly penalties and those penalties can make or break an NFL game. BetMaryland.com, as part of our sports betting Maryland coverage, wanted to know how much penalties impact NFL teams.
Using FootballDB.com, we found the top five most penalized teams over the past five seasons (2019-23). We consulted Pro-Football-Reference.com to find the records for each of those teams, then turned to ChampsorChumps.us to see whether each team made the playoffs.
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How Do Most Penalized Teams Do?
Avg. Winning % | Average Penalty Count | Made Playoffs |
.490 | 117 | 36.0% |
According to our data, 64% of the top five most penalized teams from each of the past five seasons did not make the playoffs. This could be a trend to watch for bettors who are looking for an edge to go along with their Maryland sports betting promos at BetMaryland.com.
Last season, three of the top five teams whistled most often made the postseason – the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans. The Browns and Texans are again among the most penalized teams through two games of the 2024 schedule (see chart below).
That has not stopped the Texans from getting off to a 2-0 start; at Crab Sports Maryland Sportsbook they are tied for the third-best Super Bowl odds at +850 as of Sept. 19.
The season before, 2022, was more typical as far as teams drawing the most penalties missing the playoffs. The top four teams in yellow hankies for that season (the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans) all missed the playoffs. The fifth team on the list, the Miami Dolphins, made it as the No. 7 seed in the AFC, but lost to the Buffalo Bills in the first round.
MD sports betting app customers can count on more NFL analysis from BetMaryland.com.
2024 Most Penalized NFL Teams
Rank | Team | # of Penalties |
1 | Cleveland Browns | 24 |
2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 19 |
3 | Baltimore Ravens | 18 |
T4 | Denver Broncos | 17 |
T4 | Houston Texans | 17 |
T4 | Washington Commanders | 17 |
The AFC North has a reputation for being a rough-and-tumble division. The chart above would indicate that nothing has changed in 2024 – the top three teams in penalties so far are the Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.
Can the Old Line State’s NFL team tighten up and give away fewer penalty yards going forward this season? Check out our Baltimore Ravens playoff chances all year to find out.
The Ravens are off to an 0-2 start, with 18 total penalties through two games. During Sunday’s loss to the Raiders, Baltimore was whistled 11 times and gave up 109 penalty yards. The Raiders, for years the poster boys for heavily penalized teams, were called for only three penalties for 15 yards. A pass interference penalty on third and goal was key in Las Vegas’ touchdown drive in the fourth quarter as the Raiders pulled off an upset.
For Week 3, the Ravens face the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (4:25 p.m. Sunday on FOX). To see how the lines move and to compare sportsbook operators, bookmark our Ravens vs. Cowboys odds in the days leading to the game.
USA Today photo by Jeff Hanisch
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