Penalty disparity between Seahawks, opponents grows larger
Dec 24, 2014, 2:01 PM | Updated: Dec 25, 2014, 12:12 am
BY
Former Seattle Sports Host
RENTON – Amazing.
That was the word that coach Pete Carroll used to describe the penalty discrepancy in Sunday’s game between the Seahawks and the Cardinals.
“I think it was 11-1 tonight,” Carroll said. “Amazing.”
Well, it’s something, that’s for sure. It certainly was not a coincidence. Throughout the course of this season, two things have becoming strikingly evident: Seattle’s predilection for committing penalties and the lack of offenses flagged on the other team.
The first of those two is more understandable than the second. After all, Seattle was penalized more often than any other team last season. In fact, the Seahawks have ranked among the top six in each of the previous three seasons.
So when Carroll was asked about his team’s frequency of flags after the Thanksgiving game at San Francisco, he didn’t brush it off, but he didn’t diminish the fact, either.
“We’re playing really hard and really aggressive,” Carroll said. “It’s kind of like last year. We were pretty good at leading last year, too, in penalties. You have to be first in something, you know? So that’s what it is.”
It’s the second part of the equation that’s more puzzling, the fact that Seattle’s opponents are penalized less frequently than anyone else in the league.
| Opponent penalties: Season average compared to games against Seattle | ||||||
| Team | Avg.* | vs. SEA | on SEA | |||
| GB | 5.6 | 8 | 4 | |||
| SD | 6.8 | 6 | 8 | |||
| DEN | 8.2 | 4 | 7 | |||
| WAS | 7.7 | 3 | 13 | |||
| DAL | 6.6 | 6 | 9 | |||
| STL | 8.2 | 2 | 10 | |||
| CAR | 5.3 | 4 | 7 | |||
| OAK | 7.3 | 5 | 9 | |||
| NYG | 6.4 | 4 | 6 | |||
| KC | 5.6 | 3 | 8 | |||
| ARI | 6.5 | 3 | 7 | |||
| SF | 7.3 | 3 | 14 | |||
| PHI | 7.6 | 4 | 8 | |||
| SF | 7.3 | 8 | 7 | |||
| ARI | 6.5 | 1 | 11 | |||
| * vs. opponents other than Seattle | ||||||
The Seahawks’ opponents have been penalized 64 times this season, which isn’t just fewest in the league, but fewest by 22 penalties. That’s right. Seattle’s opponents have been penalized 25 percent less often than any other team’s opponents this season.
It’s that disparity Carroll pointed to most prominently back on Thanksgiving after the 19-3 victory over San Francisco in which the Seahawks were called for 14 penalties, the 49ers for three.
“The only thing, I wish they’d call some more penalties on the other guys,” Carroll said. “We’ve got our own problems on one side. I just wish they’d call them on the other guys. The cavern grows. Broader.”
And it has showed no signs of narrowing over the past four games, and perhaps most telling of all the statistics is that Seattle’s opponents are penalized less often when they play the Seahawks than the other games played by those teams (see chart).
In fact, of the 15 games Seattle has played, there were only two when the Seahawks’ opponent was penalized more than its average against other opponents.
