I had some time today to do a little research into this area.
After 12 games, the Colts have been penalized 47 times for a total of 309 yards. The opposition has been penalized 65 times for 560 yards.
That's a big disparity--but it gets better. Over the last 5 games, the Colts have been penalized 18 times for 126 yards, while the opposition has been penalized 38 times for 362 yards.
The Pats and Chargers, in the Colts' two losses, were penalized a total of 20 times for a combined 224 yards, while the Colts were penalized 8 times for 46 yards.
In Sunday's close shave to the Jags, who nearly pulled it out in the Colts' house, the Jags got flagged 8 times for 64 yards while the Colts were penalized twice for 15 yards.
Something is rotten in Denmark. And this is coming from an NFC guy who really doesn't care much about the AFC.
Oh yeah--here's another tidbit about refereeing in general. The same rookie crew who got assigned the Pats/Colts game and made some horrendous calls was also the crew that worked the Dallas/Packers game last Thursday. Remember that blown pass interference call, where the flag materialized almost a minute after the play was over, after the official 10' away signalled that they got their feet tangled? How does the NFL assign a rookie crew to the two biggest regualr season games of the year?
