Sicilian

So, I went back and took a look at the Pats-Chiefs box score, and saw that NE only took 3 penalties for 30 yards, and KC only took 2 penalties for 15 yards. I thought, "Wow, disciplined game all around..."

Then it got me thinking. Based on my memory (which I'll admit, is not as good as it should be at my age), I feel like the Pats have always been a very disciplined team, not taking many penalties compared to inferiorly coached teams. HOWEVER, I also seem to remember they don't get many calls against their OPPONENTS either.

I have no stats to back this up, so I was hoping someone had a link to a website that would show how many penalties were called against a team's opposition during the year, to see if I'm on to something or just have selective memory.

If I'm right, I'd be interested to hear what you all think is the root cause. Is it league bias amongst the officials? Do the Patriots game plans make it easy for other teams to stay within the rules? Is it a statistical anomaly because the Pats slow down the game? Or is it just a strange coincidence?

Anyone else notice this trend, or am I alone?

PatsFaninAZ

That's my impression too, although I kind of wish they'd taken a holding penalty on the play where our QB was injured. :0)