FanPost

A look at Raiders defensive penalties

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

For years decades, the Raiders have been synonymous with penalties and one of Dennis Allen's first duties was to rectify that situation. While the scoreboard was no friend to the Raiders, the penalty situation did get better from 2011. Of course, as we all recall, 2011 was historically bad as the Raiders set NFL records for penalties and for penalty yardage. They would have to try to do much worse than that.

On the defensive side of the ball, it was also quite bad and memories of penalties at the worst possible times still haunt fans to this day. In 2011, the Raiders defense had a remarkable 91 penalties, 81 accepted, for 756 yards, and 40 first down. Let that sink in. That works out to be about 5.7 penalties per game, 5 accepted, 47 yards, and 2.5 first downs. How did that team win 8 games?

In 2012, those numbers shrunk considerably.

44 total penalties (-52%)

39 accepted (-52%)

372 penalty yards (-51%)

27 first downs surrendered (-47%)

Allen and Tarver managed to basically cut the penalties in half. Perhaps due in part to saying "goodbye" to Stanford Routt (17 penalties in 2011) and Chris Johnson (5 penalties in 4 games). Perhaps partly due to a renewed focus to discipline on the defense.

In 2011, the 4 most penalized Raiders accounted for 45 penalties, basically equivalent to the entire defense in 2011.

Routt : 17 penalties, 17 accepted, 167 yards, 17 first downs

Seymour : 12 penalties, 11 accepted, 95 yards, 6 first downs

Kelly : 8 penalties, 7 accepted, 45 yards, 2 first downs

Houston : 8 penalties, 7 accepted, 43 yards, 2 first downs

Total of these 4 : 45 penalties, 42 accepted, 350 yards, 27 first downs

It looks like this is headed in the right direction and that the Raiders are getting ready to shed that image of Penalty machine.

Here's an itemized list of the 2012 penalties by player :

Player Week vs Down Dist Yardline Penalty Yards Accepted
Adams, Phillip 14 DEN 2 4 26 Illegal Use of Hands 5 Accepted
Bartell, Ron 14 DEN 2 9 10 Pass Interference 11 Accepted
Branch, Tyvon 1 SD 1 10 24 Defensive Holding 5 Accepted
Branch, Tyvon 14 DEN 3 6 37 Illegal Contact 5 Accepted
Branch, Tyvon 9 TB 1 10 30 Horse Collar Tackle 15 Accepted
Branch, Tyvon 15 KC 1 10 32 Unnecessary Roughness 15 Accepted
Bryant, Desmond 16 CAR 3 6 22 Roughing the Passer 15 Accepted
Bryant, Desmond 17 SD 3 7 44 Roughing the Passer 13 Accepted
Bryant, Desmond 13 CLE 2 11 -46 Neutral Zone Infraction 5 Accepted
Bryant, Desmond 13 CLE 3 1 -10 Neutral Zone Infraction 5 Accepted
Burris, Miles 16 CAR 2 5 -48 Unnecessary Roughness 15 Accepted
Christo, Bilukidi 7 JAX 1 10 11 Offsides 5 Accepted
Curry, Aaron 10 BAL 1 10 26 Unnecessary Roughness 15 Accepted
Francies, Coye 15 KC 3 10 -36 Pass Interference 27 Accepted
Giordano, Matt 14 DEN 2 5 -24 Pass Interference 23 Accepted
Houston, Lamar 12 CIN 3 6 20 Disqualification 15 Declined
Houston, Lamar 9 TB 3 3 -11 Neutral Zone Infraction 5 Accepted
Houston, Lamar 10 BAL 3 8 -12 Neutral Zone Infraction 5 Accepted
Houston, Lamar 17 SD 3 6 23 Neutral Zone Infraction 5 Accepted
Houston, Lamar 17 SD 1 5 -48 Offsides 5 Accepted
Kelly, Tommy 12 CIN 3 6 20 Disqualification 15 Declined
Kelly, Tommy 9 TB 1 10 10 Roughing the Passer 15 Accepted
Kelly, Tommy 3 PIT 2 11 -11 Unnecessary Roughness 15 Accepted
Kelly, Tommy 16 CAR 3 10 20 Unnecessary Roughness 15 Accepted
Kelly, Tommy 1 SD 3 1 19 Encroachment 5 Accepted
Kelly, Tommy 13 CLE 2 9 36 Encroachment 5 Accepted
Kelly, Tommy 17 SD 1 10 47 Encroachment 5 Accepted
Kelly, Tommy 7 JAX 2 7 38 Neutral Zone Infraction 5 Accepted
Kelly, Tommy 1 SD 3 3 36 Offsides 5 Accepted
Kelly, Tommy 14 DEN 2 2 -43 Offsides 5 Accepted
Mitchell, Mike 16 CAR 3 3 33 Defensive Holding 5 Declined
Seymour, Richard 8 KC 1 10 -20 Roughing the Passer 10 Accepted
Seymour, Richard 4 DEN 3 4 37 Neutral Zone Infraction 5 Accepted
Seymour, Richard 9 TB 1 10 -34 Offsides 5 Accepted
Shaughnessy, Matt 6 ATL 1 10 20 Roughing the Passer 15 Accepted
Shaughnessy, Matt 7 JAX 1 5 16 Neutral Zone Infraction 5 Accepted
Shaughnessy, Matt 2 MIA 2 1 29 Offsides 5 Declined
Spencer, Shawntae 2 MIA 1 10 20 Pass Interference 18 Accepted
Tollefson, Dave 6 ATL 3 1 -1 Neutral Zone Infraction 0 Accepted
Wheeler, Philip 6 ATL 3 13 17 Defensive Holding 5 Accepted
Wheeler, Philip 14 DEN 3 5 37 Defensive Holding 5 Accepted
Wheeler, Philip 16 CAR 3 3 -3 Defensive Holding 5 Declined
Wheeler, Philip 10 BAL 2 7 33 Facemask 15 Accepted
Wheeler, Philip 10 BAL 3 15 -37 Unnecessary Roughness 15 Accepted