Silver Minings: Raiders most penalized team in NFL

The Las Vegas Raiders have always been known as the bad boys of the NFL.

Dating back to the 1970s and 1980s when players like George Atkinson and Lyle Alzado were striking fear into the eyes of opponents, there has been no shortage of penalties for the Raiders. While the rules might have changed over the years, the Silver and Black have consistently drawn more flags than any other team.

This year has been no different as a recent study from Mike Tannenbaum’s, former general manager of the New York Jets and executive vice president of the Miami Dolphins, The 33rd Team revealed that Las Vegas has been the most penalized team in the league this season. After getting flagged nine times for 68 yards, the Raiders overtook the Cowboys for the top spot in the 33rd Team’s Discipline Index:

As a reminder, The 33rd Team’s Discipline Index combines the number of penalties, penalty yardage and turnovers on a per-game basis in order to show which teams are able to play the most mistake-free football in any given week, writes the 33rd Team’s Brian Fiedland.

Sitting in the No. 31 slot in the Discipline Index, the Las Vegas Raiders have overtaken No. 32 Dallas Cowboys as the most penalized team in the NFL, earning 8 surrendering 8 penalties per game. After struggling in Week 13 against No. 27 ranked Kansas City, the Raiders are also giving up the most penalty yards of any team each week.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to Raiders fans as the team has been heavily penalized for years. The Silver and Black rank second for the most seasons leading the league in flags with 15, as the Chicago Bears are the only organization ahead of the Raiders.

Then again, it kind of comes with the “bad boy” image the organization has pushed for years, so I guess Raider Nation will have to take the bad with the good.

In other Raiders’ Links:

• Three Raiders headed to Pro Bowl: defensive end Maxx Crosby, linebacker Denzel Perryman and punter AJ Cole will represent Las Vegas in Las Vegas.
• Crosby reacts to Pro Bowl selection: “I was in rehab two years ago. And now I’m in the Pro Bowl,” said the pass rusher in a video released by the team.
• Raiders one-game back in Wild Card race: they are behind a four-way tie for three spots and a half-game back of the Steelers, though.
• Kurt Warner’s jacket steals the show: the Hall of Fame quarterback was on the call for the Raiders’ game and was the talk of the first half with his very puffy and very shiny silver jacket.