Will these Browner penalites become a factor in the postseason?

[obgod3]

Well I look at it like this, pretty much all decent CB 's get called these days. I don't mind much because as I said in another post a few days ago I see Browner as our version of a Hanson triplet. I love the enforcer part of his play and I accept the consequences. There is no doubt guys are wary of getting hit by him.

And - if it is penalty over a TD I'll take it any day, matter of fact I would coach that if your getting beat for TD commit the penalty and fight for three more downs.

 

[mgteich]

Browner's physical play will be a positive factor for the patriots, as it has been all year. And yes, part of that is that he will draw penalties.

 

[FourierSeries]

We're one of the least penalized teams on defense. No, he won't be a problem for us.

It's on offense where we need to stop taking dumb penalties.

 

[Mix]

We're one of the least penalized teams on defense. No, he won't be a problem for us.

Only Buffalo has been penalized more often than NE on defense so I don't know where you are getting that information from.


As far as Browner goes you don't give him the contract that he got if you aren't willing to live with the penalties. The positives that he brings to the defense outweigh the negative of the penalties and I expect the gap between the two to only widen as the refs relax with the flags in the playoffs.

 

[supafly]

Browner's physical play will be a positive factor for the patriots, as it has been all year. And yes, part of that is that he will draw penalties.

It's difficult to add much of anything to this thought. I think you sum it up very well.

My only addition would be that yes--I do believe that there will be a negative consequence of Browner taking penalties in a big, post-season game setting. As you said however, there are also obvious benefits as well.

 

[dannydyn]

FWIW, last year the Seahawks were the most penalized team in the league and they still went on to win the SB. You NEED to play punch-you-in-the-mouth defense or else you stand no chance.

 

[Kontradiction]

No. The past has shown us that defense gets a pass in the playoffs where it didn't in the regular season. The fantasy football playoffs will be over. He may still get his penalties, but it will have little negative effect on the team. The alternative to Browner is to put Dennard in there and then line him up 12 yards off the LOS. I'll take Browner in press every time.

 

[hambone1818]

I just broke down regular season vs. postseason defensive penalties; the Seahawks were flagged less in the postseason but not by a huge amount. Just another flag or two and they'd have hit their regular season average. League-wide penalties were called slightly more, but for fewer total yards...in both cases the variance from the regular season was small.

All that said, teams play more aggressive in the playoffs, there's a higher level of intensity and breaking up the long ball is even more important. The fact that defensive penalty yards against, for both Seattle and league-wide, went down tells me that refs do swallow the whistles even if just a tiny amount.

End of the day I love Browner's physical play and don't mind the occasional flag. As someone else said, as long as the Patriots aren't getting flagged for the dumb stuff I'm fine with the penalties. Most good teams these days are near the top of the penalty 'leaderboard', it's a sign of a team playing right at the edge and taking chances.

 

[Double TE]

How many of those penalties are purely rep? I think in the playoffs the officials will not throw as many flags unless the penalty is blatant.

 

[BSR]

I don't think the rate of penalties are something to be overly concerned with. While Browner has had many penalties there are some other top corners like Peterson and Hayden that are also flagged heavily. Further, Seattle and Denver are the two most penalized teams in the league so it isn't an issue strictly for the Patriots. And finally, if DPI penalties continue to be called at a higher rate, that isn't necessarily a bad thing for the Patriots since they are one of the biggest beneficiaries of such calls.

 

[IllegalContact]

I think what comes along with the penalties goes into the head of opposing offenses.

it will not be nearly as much of a factor come playoff time since the refs scale back those kinds of calls come playoff time.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Three points.

The officials have and are exercising a lot more leeway in how they call Illegal Contact and Defensive Holding calls in the Secondary this year. There's no reason to believe that their behavior will change in the Playoffs. It's reasonable to argue that these rules were put in place after last year's SB when the Broncos cried to the league about the Seattle D during that (wonderful!) game. So, if anything, the officials will be even tougher during the Playoffs.

Browner, for better or worse, rightly or wrongly, now has a reputation for his play and his hits. He's going to have to work with his coaches to figure out how to "still play his game" while avoiding costly penalties. That's a very thin line to walk.

The bottom line is that Browner is going to get flagged during the Playoffs, but the odds are that he will still add a lot more to the Patriots' cause than those penalties could ever subtract. We can only hope that it doesn't occur at the wrong time and that when it does occur, he took a penalty to save something worse from happening.

 

[Patriot Missile]

I'm ok with most of his penalties. The one last week I was not. 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalties are killers. Luckily he was bailed out by another idiot.
I bet if you lined up all his penalties you would see only a couple that were possibly game changers if they were close games. The Pats knew what they were getting when they signed this guy and I think he has played his position and role on this team better than anyone could of expected.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Browner = Patriot missile

 

[Fencer]

FWIW, last year the Seahawks were the most penalized team in the league and they still went on to win the SB. You NEED to play punch-you-in-the-mouth defense or else you stand no chance.

What's more, they had a CB who played a whole lot like Browner.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

In the 3 games that we lost this year, Browner doesn't crack my top 5 reason list.

Can a play maker a difference in the outcome of a close game, it certainly can. But, how do you factor in his style and affect on other members of the team? In the end, this is the team we have and I wouldn't mess with a players head at this point and ask him to play differently.

If it were a problem with BB, Browner would be sitting out and he would understand why.

 

[RIpats88]

unless it changes this year, usually the refs have put the whistles away when it comes to the playoffs. The seahawks were the most penalized team last year due to their agressive play on defense. come the playoffs they put the whistles away and they rode it all the way to a superbowl.

I think you subscribe to the thought of "they cant flag me every play" browner will get some flags that go against him. but he will also skirt the rules abit and not get a flag that helps the team. IE last week against the RB in the flat which some are saying probably shouldve been PI which ended up in a tanehill interception

 

[40yrpatsfan]

I liked the play where he leveled the TE and was wrongly called - that type of penalty I'll take all day long because it sets a tone. And if he grabs someone because he's going to get beat, fine. But he needs to be coached up because most of his penalties are for ticky-tack hand contact that isn't needed to defend the play, where he's already in decent position. He's getting a hand on the receiver downfield virtually every play, illegally, and in the playoffs where games turn on a couple of plays, that has to stop or it will kill us.

If I could talk to him it would be: "be smarter about it. only grab or arm-bar when there's a risk of a big play, cause the odds are even if your guys gets a little open he's not going to catch a ball and hurt the D, where a penalty certainly will, ESPECIALLY ON 3RD DOWN! And have more confidence in your ability to react when the ball's in the air, cause you're freakin good at that. Even try letting the guy catch a few and then hit him into the next zip code".

 

[IcyPatriot]

We mostly see the penalties and we don't get to see how often he shuts down his target or alters the play of his target. One would have to watch all his plays on the all 22 and judge the worth that way. He's there for most of the snaps so I think thew question is already answered by that.

 

[1960Pats]

I don't think anyone wants to take away Browner's aggressive style. I think we all enjoy the game because of the type of hits he provides.

The problems come with the stupid penalties or the avoidable ones. It's not a lot to ask of him to clean it up a bit.

The OP's question is legitimate and if Browner takes a game killing penalty in the playoffs or the last two games, I'll be curious to see who'll have his back then.