“There is a flag on the play.”
It’s one of the most discouraging, frustrating and seemingly common phrases in football. Detroit Lions fans know it very well, unfortunately.
However, the Lions broadcast crews didn’t have to utter that dreaded phrase directed at Detroit in 2022 as they have recently. Head coach Dan Campbell’s Lions were more disciplined and conformist to the rule book last season than Detroit has been in a very long time.
Thanks to data from the NFL’s own stats and NFL Penalties, here are some of the notes on how the Lions and the officials interacted in 2022.
2022 vs 2021 total penalties
Detroit cut back considerably on penalties in Campbell’s second season at the helm from his rookie campaign in 2021.
The Lions were called for 90 total penalties in 2022, down 15 from the 105 they were assessed in 2021. In terms of yardage, the Lions were assessed 773 penalty yards in 2022, down from 824 in 2021.
Opposing flags
The Lions were net winners in the penalty department in 2022. Teams playing Detroit were guilty of 103 accepted penalties, totaling 818 yards.
The team with the most in a game against Detroit? Seattle in Week 3 with 11. One week earlier, the Washington Commanders committed the fewest with just two for 17 yards.
Best and worst Lions games
Detroit somehow managed to have two games with exactly eight enforced penalties for 59 yards. It happened against the Seahawks in Week 4 and the Cowboys in Week 7. The Lions had their most penalty yards in a game in the loss to Dallas in Week 5, with 82 yards on seven infractions.
The Lions were guilty of just one penalty in two separate games: Washington in Week 2 and Jacksonville in Week 13. It cost the Lions just five yards in the win over the Commanders and 10 in the romp over Jacksonville.
Most penalized player
Right tackle Penei Sewell led the Lions with eight penalties in 2022, plus another that was declined. He was flagged for four false starts, four holds and one illegal block above the waist.
Cornerback Amani Oruwariye saw more flags thrown his way. Officials caught him for 11 penalties, but four were declined. Considering he played just 50 percent of the defensive snaps in 2022, that’s not a good rate.
Holding ratio
Holding is the most common infraction across the NFL. The Lions were no exception, and Detroit was on the wrong end of the holding ratio in 2022.
The Lions were flagged 25 times for holding. Opponents were hit with just 18 while playing the Lions. The league average is just under 19. The ratio of minus-6 was tied for 30th around the league.
Pass interference
The other primary subjective call in football is pass interference. As was the case with holding, Detroit was on the wrong end of the flag ratio.
Detroit was penalized for 10 defensive pass interference calls, with three others (all on Oruwariye) declined. It cost the Lions 176 yards. The Lions offense drew just eight defensive pass interference calls for 78 yards
One random note here: The Kansas City Chiefs were guilty of the most pass interference calls (14) and earned the least amount of pass interference calls against the opponent (2).
Disciplined grit
Detroit’s 90 penalties in 2022 ranked as the 11th-fewest penalties in the league. It’s also the fewest flags the Lions have been hit with in a season since NFL Penalties began tracking the totals in 2009. The plus-13 ratio of penalties is also the best ratio the Lions have had in that timeframe.
