Penalties · 2019–2026
NFL penalties by team
The Browns lead the NFL in penalties in 2026: 82 in 9 games (after Week 9). Since 2019, the Cowboys have been flagged the most, 812; the Bengals the least, 594.
Accepted penalties in the regular season, as the league counts them, from nflverse play-by-play. By season: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019
2026, after Week 9
| # | Team | Penalties | Per game | Yards | Most flagged for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Browns | 82 | 9.1 | 563 | Offensive Holding (18) |
| 2 |  Panthers | 70 | 8.8 | 635 | Offensive Holding (15) |
| 3 |  Bills | 60 | 8.6 | 521 | Offensive Holding (14) |
| 4 |  Chargers | 66 | 8.3 | 540 | False Start (20) |
| 5 |  Cowboys | 74 | 8.2 | 667 | Offensive Holding (17) |
| 6 |  Packers | 74 | 8.2 | 605 | Offensive Holding (14) |
| 7 |  Ravens | 74 | 8.2 | 539 | False Start (24) |
| 8 |  Jets | 73 | 8.1 | 572 | False Start (12) |
| 9 |  Bears | 72 | 8.0 | 570 | Offensive Holding (20) |
| 10 |  Texans | 64 | 8.0 | 544 | Offensive Holding (15) |
| 11 |  Rams | 71 | 7.9 | 599 | False Start (15) |
| 12 |  Broncos | 69 | 7.7 | 478 | Delay of Game (9) |
| 13 |  Commanders | 61 | 7.6 | 468 | False Start (17) |
| 14 |  Cardinals | 68 | 7.6 | 629 | False Start (14) |
| 15 |  Dolphins | 60 | 7.5 | 423 | Offensive Holding (19) |
| 16 |  Giants | 59 | 7.4 | 510 | False Start (18) |
| 17 |  Patriots | 66 | 7.3 | 500 | Offensive Holding (14) |
| 18 |  Jaguars | 58 | 7.3 | 479 | Offensive Holding (16) |
| 19 |  Seahawks | 65 | 7.2 | 594 | False Start (14) |
| 20 |  Eagles | 64 | 7.1 | 451 | Offensive Holding (16) |
| 21 |  Buccaneers | 63 | 7.0 | 449 | False Start (18) |
| 22 |  Lions | 56 | 7.0 | 447 | False Start (15) |
| 23 |  Chiefs | 55 | 6.9 | 484 | Offensive Holding (14) |
| 24 |  Bengals | 55 | 6.9 | 437 | False Start (11) |
| 25 |  Falcons | 60 | 6.7 | 538 | Offensive Holding (17) |
| 26 |  Titans | 53 | 6.6 | 410 | Offensive Holding (20) |
| 27 |  49ers | 50 | 6.3 | 445 | Offensive Holding (11) |
| 28 |  Saints | 49 | 6.1 | 330 | False Start (11) |
| 29 |  Raiders | 54 | 6.0 | 413 | Defensive Pass Interference (10) |
| 30 |  Colts | 54 | 6.0 | 392 | Offensive Holding (15) |
| 31 |  Steelers | 47 | 5.9 | 414 | Offensive Holding (11) |
| 32 |  Vikings | 39 | 5.6 | 314 | False Start (9) |
Every season since 2019
Accepted penalties per regular season. Sorted by the total over the 7 complete seasons; 2026 is so far.
| Team | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | 109 | 96 | 127 | 104 | 115 | 128 | 133 | 74 | 812 | 6.9 |
| Jets | 115 | 101 | 103 | 91 | 124 | 137 | 110 | 73 | 781 | 6.7 |
| Browns | 122 | 100 | 112 | 102 | 115 | 119 | 108 | 82 | 778 | 6.6 |
| Cardinals | 121 | 112 | 114 | 117 | 101 | 92 | 115 | 68 | 772 | 6.6 |
| Titans | 99 | 86 | 103 | 111 | 110 | 130 | 129 | 53 | 768 | 6.6 |
| Texans | 111 | 80 | 114 | 88 | 114 | 119 | 118 | 64 | 744 | 6.4 |
| Bills | 116 | 102 | 113 | 92 | 106 | 112 | 101 | 60 | 742 | 6.4 |
| Jaguars | 132 | 107 | 104 | 90 | 83 | 99 | 127 | 58 | 742 | 6.3 |
| Raiders | 128 | 97 | 124 | 113 | 75 | 96 | 108 | 54 | 741 | 6.3 |
| Saints | 120 | 98 | 98 | 99 | 96 | 110 | 118 | 49 | 739 | 6.3 |
| Ravens | 109 | 104 | 102 | 82 | 102 | 132 | 99 | 74 | 730 | 6.2 |
| Seahawks | 109 | 84 | 97 | 106 | 110 | 119 | 100 | 65 | 725 | 6.2 |
| Chiefs | 107 | 105 | 110 | 87 | 96 | 94 | 119 | 55 | 718 | 6.1 |
| Eagles | 100 | 107 | 107 | 90 | 94 | 103 | 117 | 64 | 718 | 6.1 |
| Broncos | 110 | 81 | 83 | 113 | 99 | 107 | 123 | 69 | 716 | 6.1 |
| Buccaneers | 133 | 84 | 96 | 99 | 100 | 108 | 95 | 63 | 715 | 6.1 |
| Lions | 113 | 95 | 105 | 90 | 97 | 106 | 104 | 56 | 710 | 6.1 |
| Panthers | 87 | 95 | 107 | 104 | 103 | 118 | 95 | 70 | 709 | 6.1 |
| Bears | 103 | 88 | 106 | 80 | 99 | 110 | 120 | 72 | 706 | 6.0 |
| Dolphins | 92 | 74 | 105 | 111 | 97 | 114 | 101 | 60 | 694 | 5.9 |
| Giants | 90 | 81 | 88 | 106 | 89 | 112 | 128 | 59 | 694 | 5.9 |
| Vikings | 96 | 82 | 111 | 88 | 89 | 110 | 111 | 39 | 687 | 5.9 |
| Steelers | 111 | 81 | 106 | 94 | 86 | 102 | 101 | 47 | 681 | 5.8 |
| 49ers | 105 | 85 | 101 | 94 | 101 | 111 | 83 | 50 | 680 | 5.8 |
| Commanders | 105 | 87 | 82 | 92 | 87 | 109 | 117 | 61 | 679 | 5.8 |
| Chargers | 103 | 85 | 116 | 81 | 79 | 96 | 104 | 66 | 664 | 5.7 |
| Packers | 99 | 84 | 69 | 89 | 104 | 112 | 105 | 74 | 662 | 5.7 |
| Patriots | 94 | 62 | 95 | 104 | 89 | 111 | 99 | 66 | 654 | 5.6 |
| Falcons | 119 | 82 | 92 | 68 | 84 | 99 | 108 | 60 | 652 | 5.6 |
| Colts | 79 | 94 | 75 | 89 | 95 | 92 | 102 | 54 | 626 | 5.4 |
| Rams | 118 | 71 | 76 | 76 | 89 | 91 | 75 | 71 | 596 | 5.1 |
| Bengals | 93 | 83 | 72 | 81 | 76 | 101 | 88 | 55 | 594 | 5.1 |
By year
Accepted penalties and yards per team per game.
| Season | Penalties | Yards |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 7.35 | 59.1 |
| 2025 | 6.36 | 51.1 |
| 2024 | 6.43 | 52.1 |
| 2023 | 5.71 | 47.0 |
| 2022 | 5.59 | 46.1 |
| 2021 | 5.91 | 50.9 |
| 2020 | 5.61 | 48.6 |
| 2019 | 6.73 | 57.2 |
Home and away
Over 1,965 regular-season games since 2019 (not counting neutral sites), home teams were flagged 5.95 times a game for 49.4 yards, visitors 6.31 times for 52.4 yards: 6% more flags on the road. Not from crowd noise: false starts are even (2,214 at home, 2,196 on the road). The gap is delay of game (+164), defensive pass interference (+126) and defensive holding (+112). Is the NFL rigged?
Most penalties in a game since 2019
| # | Team | Game | Penalties | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Falcons | @ Buccaneers, 2025 Week 15 Dec 11, 2025 | 19 | 125 |
| 2 | Browns | vs Titans, 2019 Week 1 Sep 8, 2019 | 18 | 182 |
| 3 | Cardinals | vs 49ers, 2025 Week 11 Nov 16, 2025 | 17 | 130 |
| 4 | Chargers | @ Seahawks, 2026 Week 4 Oct 4, 2026 | 16 | 130 |
| 5 | Falcons | @ Colts, 2019 Week 3 Sep 22, 2019 | 16 | 128 |
| 6 | Jaguars | vs Buccaneers, 2019 Week 13 Dec 1, 2019 | 16 | 121 |
| 7 | Jets | @ Bills, 2024 Week 17 Dec 29, 2024 | 16 | 120 |
| 8 | Cowboys | vs Raiders, 2021 Week 12 Nov 25, 2021 | 14 | 166 |
| 9 | Giants | @ Cowboys, 2025 Week 2 Sep 14, 2025 | 14 | 160 |
| 10 | Cowboys | @ Colts, 2026 Week 9 Nov 8, 2026 | 14 | 153 |