Penalties remain a major problem for the Cleveland Browns. The team was on a bit of a positive surge with more disciplined play coming out of the bye week until everything hit the fan at the end of the Week 11 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The fracas at FirstEnergy Stadium last Thursday spiked away the progress and vaulted the Browns well back into the lead for most penalty yards. Cleveland has been flagged for a total of 822 yards, the most in the league. Oakland is next at 779.
Where the penalties really hit home is in penalty yardage differential. Cleveland has lost a net of 334 yards on assessed penalties in 2019. That’s more than 100 yards worse than the Raiders, who are also second-worst in that figure. Arizona and Oakland have been guilty of more total penalties, but the Browns’ yardage is much worse thanks to personal fouls and pass interference calls.
If you’re looking for a silver lining, the team has committed just one pre-snap penalty on offense in the last three weeks.
