Lions earned the lowest penalty benefit of any team in 2021
Officiating bias is always an issue in the NFL, whether the perception is reality or not. For Detroit Lions fans, the perception of a bias against the team just got a little more ammunition.
No team earned less positive penalty impact in 2021 than the Lions. That’s according to data mined based on added win probability from each penalty committed in a game. The Lions had the lowest added bump to overall win probability in games from penalties committed by the opposing team.
The Lions ranked 22nd in total raw penalty yards assessed against their opponents (818 yards), but the impact on the games was a lot less than the 10 other teams who received less opposing penalty yardage.
From Twitter:
Here's a look at which #NFL teams benefited most from penalties committed *by their opponents* this season
Tomorrow we'll share which teams were hurt most by penalties against them -and- the net WP gain/loss from penalties for each team#NFLStats pic.twitter.com/oMDjTMcDUQ
— acCOUNTable refs (@AcCOUNTableRefs) January 13, 2022
