Will these Browner penalites become a factor in the postseason?

I doubt it since most of his penalties have not been a factor in the regular season. Yes, he has gotten a lot of 5 yard holding calls, but most of them helped him get away with more as the game went along, allowed the Pats to set a more physical tone on defense, and probably would have given up a much bigger play if he wasn't holding or committing illegal contact.

Other than the bigger and more stupid penalties, I haven't had a problem with a lot of his penalties. I expect a lot of the penalties he has gotten in the regular season will not be called in the playoffs.

Rob0729 said:

I doubt it since most of his penalties have not been a factor in the regular season. Yes, he has gotten a lot of 5 yard holding calls, but most of them helped him get away with more as the game went along, allowed the Pats to set a more physical tone on defense, and probably would have given up a much bigger play if he wasn't holding or committing illegal contact.

Other than the bigger and more stupid penalties, I haven't had a problem with a lot of his penalties. I expect a lot of the penalties he has gotten in the regular season will not be called in the playoffs.

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They've been a factor when they occur on 3rd down and are unnecessary. I haven't really seen many that set a more physical tone, they seem to mostly be jersey grabs. It's habit/lack of discipline - he could be called many more times than he has. Giving Manning or Flacco free 1st downs in a playoff game could be fatal.

40yrpatsfan said:

Giving Manning or Flacco free 1st downs in a playoff game could be fatal.

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Sure, but worsening the starting CB opposite Revis would be far worse.

Browner has been getting flagged - rightly and wrongly - all season, and it hasn't been a major factor yet. If anything, the defense has played substantially better since he was activated.

You can't focus on just the flags, you have to look at the entire picture.

Oswlek said:

Sure, but worsening the starting CB opposite Revis would be far worse.

Browner has been getting flagged - rightly and wrongly - all season, and it hasn't been a major factor yet. If anything, the defense has played substantially better since he was activated.

You can't focus on just the flags, you have to look at the entire picture.

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But the point is that he could be coached up to not foul so consistently. What he's doing is not necessary, not helping, and playing with fire in the playoffs. Overall I like his play, he's a huge net positive, but he could really reduce the risk that he brings to every game by improving his techniques.

40yrpatsfan said:

What he's doing is not necessary, not helping, and playing with fire in the playoffs.

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Of course it helps, it led to Chung's game changing pick just last week and is a big part of what makes Browner so successful. As for playing with fire, that strikes me as hyperbole unless you think they'll start throwing even more flags in the playoffs. Even if a penalty leads to a backbreaking score, the odds are that NE wouldn't even have been leading if not for Brandon's play beforehand.

40yrpatsfan said:

They've been a factor when they occur on 3rd down and are unnecessary. I haven't really seen many that set a more physical tone, they seem to mostly be jersey grabs. It's habit/lack of discipline - he could be called many more times than he has. Giving Manning or Flacco free 1st downs in a playoff game could be fatal.

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But there really hasn't been that many 3rd down unnecessary types of penalties. And I would argue that those penalties usually happen early in the game and it ultimately benefits him and the team later because he determines the ref crew's "strike zone" for what they determine illegal contact and/or he does it so often that they stop calling it. I won't go as far as to call those early illegal contact or holding calls necessary, but they usually only happen early and it seems to benefit Browner later in the game.

Other than a handful of penalties, I can't remember many of these penalties being costly and he has already gotten such penalties against QBs like Manning, Rodgers, Rivers, and Luck.