Preseason is good for some things, like determining position battles and evaluating rookies. One thing that doesn’t matter is winning or losing — which is why nobody is freaking out about the Falcons’ current dry spell. While the 12-game preseason losing streak isn’t concerning, the number of costly penalties they are being called for might be.
An interesting look at the statistic Win Probability Lost due to penalties by Brown Analytics shows that the Falcons have hurt their chances of winning by committing penalties more than any other NFL team in the preseason thus far.
You can attribute some of that to three new coordinators, several new offensive linemen and general preseason sloppiness, but to be so much worse than the rest of the league is not ideal.
Coach Dan Quinn will need to clean this up before the season starts.
