Penalties

[WestCoastRam]

Can this team cut down on penalties?

Number one on the list is false starts. I can't even count the number of yards we gave up on offense due to false starts. That alone should improve the offensive output on some level.

One thing that was entirely frustrating with this team were the self-inflicted wounds!

 

[1maGoh]

I think the offensive penalties were discussed a while ago here, and that the conclusion was that the Redskins offense committed a penalty (on average) 2 plays less often than the Rams offense. It was something like the Rams committed a penalty every 9 plays and the Redskins committed a penalty every 11 or maybe 12 plays. Not 100% sure though, but it wasn't super far off.

What bearing that has on the Rams offense this year? I've no clue, but it's an interesting data point.

 

[JackDRams]

We traded penalties to the Lions. Did you miss that?

 

[CGI_Ram]

A lot of the good teams get penalties too. Patriots and Seahawks I recall are usually among the league leaders.

But, by comparison, ours seemed to come always at the worst time.

 

[WestCoastRam]

A lot of the good teams get penalties too. Patriots and Seahawks I recall are usually among the league leaders.

But, by comparison, ours seemed to come always at the worst time.

Would love to see how many of Patriots penalties were offsides, I'm wondering how much that really happens with them and Brady...

 

[DaveFan'51]

We traded penalties to the Lions. Did you miss that?

You beat me to it, again, Jack! I was just going to say we got rid of all our "False Start penalties when we got rid of GRob!

 

[tempests]

Penalties are not the issue but they are an issue. We've had ten losing seasons in a row and in that time we've committed the second most penalties and been flagged for the second most penalty yardage (it would take an act of God to knock the Raiduhs off that particular perch).

I looked this up recently, because it just didn't track (in my mind) that playoff bound teams have those kinds of mental mistakes.

Over the last five years, of the 16 most penalized teams, only five have overall winning records. Seattle and Denver stand out the most as teams that win(+ .700 winning percentage) in spite of it.

However, of the 16 least penalized teams since 2012, eleven have winning records. Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Carolina, New England, Arizona, Kansas City, Cincinnati are in this group.

I went back further for over the last ten seasons and I saw a pronounced difference again. 6 of the 16 most penalized teams since 2007 have compiled overall winning records in that time frame(Dallas, Baltimore, Seattle, Denver), but 12 of the 16 least penalized teams had winning % over .500(New England, Indianapolis, New Orleans, NYG, Pittsburgh, Green Bay).

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Yes, we need to be good enough to overcome penalties but we also have to learn to avoid them. (We were middle of the pack in our GSOT years and also the 1970s division runs). On their own, they may not prevent a good team from being successful but they sure make it harder.

 

[tempests]

A lot of the good teams get penalties too. Patriots and Seahawks I recall are usually among the league leaders.

Actually Pats have the third fewest penalties called against them since 2007.

 

[Rambitious1]

We traded penalties to the Lions. Did you miss that?

 

[Rambitious1]

A lot of the good teams get penalties too. Patriots and Seahawks I recall are usually among the league leaders.

But, by comparison, ours seemed to come always at the worst time.

Exactly.
Ours come at the worst of times and for things they should not. Like on offense when we are driving or a special teams play we just scored on. And for procedure things, offsides - motion etc. Instead of say hitting a WR too hard or just past the whistle. Hitting the QB too hard - physical penalties that (depending of course) more indicate your team is just pushing the envelope on physicality as opposed to being boneheaded and undiciplined.

 

[WestCoastRam]

@Rambitious1, good call. Receivers going in motion or lining up off the line when they should have been on the line were maddening penalties too. Along with holding on the oline!

 

[shaunpinney]

Good point @WestCoastRam - the penalties have been maddening, but also, many of them didn't seem justified. Now we have a new sheriff in town, I'm hoping things will be different.

We're not good enough offensively (yet) to give away yard / 1st downs on a regular basis.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Actually Pats have the third fewest penalties called against them since 2007.

Yes, you are correct. I probably should have not included them with Seattle. It is Seattle that is regularly top in the league in penalties.

That said, New England was the 5th most penalized and Seattle the most penalized when they met in the 2014 Super Bowl.

 

[den-the-coach]

One thing about penalties I remember complaining in 1998 about penalties killing the Rams and a good friend pointed out good teams overcome penalties and that is why you don't really pay attention to them....Case in point in 1999 I remember a penalty against the Falcons that back the Rams up with 3rd & 18 they ran a draw to Faulk for 20 yards, bad call forgotten.

Now it seems teams like the Patriots have few penalties, but they also are able to overcome them because of their ability to move the football. Overall I expect the Rams to improve in this area because Fisher's team were notorious for getting a high volume of flags and as @JackDRams so astutely communicated losing Greg Robinson and the fact the officials had him on his radar should also cut down on the amount of flags thrown on the offensive line moving forward.