Data says Browns most hurt by penalties, Steelers most helped
Fans of the Cleveland Browns will read the title of this article and follow up with some comment or thought similar to “No crap, Captain Obvious.”
Fans of most teams believe their team is not treated fairly by the referees and can give you examples of when it happened. Fans of the Cleveland Browns can often recite dates, times and game situations when their least favorite referee mistake went against their team. For this author, it is when Duke Johnson Jr. came out of the pile with the football but the referee awarded the fumble to the defense.
In the 2021 season, there have been a number of dubious calls that have gone against the Browns as well as a few non-calls that have impacted games. The blown pass interference call against Los Angeles and the roughing the passer call against Arizona stand out.
Cleveland fans now have data to back up their feelings as their team has lost the most due to penalties, compared to those called against their opponent, of any team in the NFL this season:
What has been the net effect of penalties on each team in 2021?
The Browns have been hurt the most by penalties this year, losing a net of 3.5 EPA per game on penalties called in their games.
Data: #nflverse pic.twitter.com/4vdWP40jOq
— Anthony Reinhard (@reinhurdler) November 9, 2021
AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers sitting at the top of this data chart is also not surprising.
Obviously, the Browns have contributed to their overall penalties with dumb mistakes but, week in and week out, the whistles do not seem to go their way. If even half of the times Myles Garrett was held were called the above chart might look quite different.
For now, Cleveland fans can “prove” the refs are out to get their team with simple data to go along with all their examples.
