What is the record for most penalties in an NFL game?
Penalties were sadly the focus during yesterday's Thanksgiving slate of games. The Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders played a nail-biter on Thanksgiving that sent the teams well into overtime before the Raiders were able to kick a last-second field goal that sealed the game.
Even with the excitement of a tie and overtime, the game was marred by massive amounts of penalties that left both teams scrambling for answers.
The Raiders and Cowboys combined for a whopping 28 penalties and 276 penalty yards. Strangely enough, that is not even the record.
What's the record for most penalties in a game?
The record for the most penalties ever committed in a game was done in the 1976 season when the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers combined 39 penalties and 310 penalty yards. This is the record for the modern NFL.
The record for most penalties in the NFL's initial creation happened in 1951 between the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears. The two teams combined for 37 penalties and 374 penalty yards.
That's nearly four lengths of the football field in penalty yardage.
Sadly enough, the Raiders hold the record for most penalized teams in a game. Back in 2016, the Raiders were penalized 23 times for 200 yards.
They would still manage to beat the Bucs during that game.
Still, having to witness last night's penalty-fueled debacle was nothing short of disappointing, especially for Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy.
Mike McCarthy was not happy after the Cowboys Thanksgiving loss. https://t.co/wDQ5nxFA1A
Cowboys vs. Raiders Thanksgiving game 2021 forever remembered for penalties
Head coaches constantly preach the fundamentals of football, and having to see a team constantly make rookie mistakes can be nothing short of infuriating. Take last night's game for instance.
A holding call on Tyron Smith, who had returned from IR, negated a touchdown in the fourth quarter for the Cowboys. They kicked a field goal instead.
The Cowboys and Raiders were deep into overtime, with the Raiders about to kick the game-winning field goal. A neutral zone infraction caused the kick to be no good and the Raiders to back up even more.
Back-to-back penalties on the Cowboys for that same infraction allowed the Raiders to inch closer to the goal line and kick the game-winning field goal. A sad end to a thrilling game that could have been avoided with disciplined fundamentals.
.@SollyThomas90 was in there QUICK. #RaiderNation
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There is no telling who may have won had the penalty flags not flown on every other play, but the Raiders were the ones that did enough to secure a very important win that keeps them in the thick of the playoff race.