Super Bowl LIX Penalty Trends for Chiefs and Eagles

The spotlight can't be brighter than it is during the Super Bowl, and every play means more than the last once the big game gets underway.

Dropped passes, shoelace tackles, and -- of course -- penalties will play some part in the end result of Super Bowl LIX.

I'm sure we all remember the James Bradberry defensive holding call on JuJu Smith-Schuster in Super Bowl LVII that helped the Kansas City Chiefs drain the clock and kick a late field goal to beat the Philadelphia Eagles two years ago.

What trends should we know about for each side entering this year's Super Bowl?

Eagles and Chiefs Penalty Stats

According to play-by-play data from nflfastR, the Chiefs accrued 94 penalties in the regular season, the fourth-fewest penalties of any team in the NFL.

That number for the Eagles was 103, 11th-best in the league.

In the playoffs, KC has averaged 4.5 penalties per game; Philadelphia is at 5.0 per game.

But there's more to penalties than just being flagged for committing them. Generating and benefitting from penalties is important, too.

On the flip side, the Eagles didn't benefit from very many penalties in the regular season. They were the beneficiaries of 84 flags this regular season, second-fewest in the NFL. The Chiefs (107) were 17th in penalties drawn.

Let's get a snapshot of penalty trends for each team.

We'll look at total penalties, penalty yards, first downs from penalties, and Expected Points Added (EPA) on penalties -- both for and against the Eagles and Chiefs.

Note: These are per-game stats, including the postseason.

Eagles/Chiefs Penalty Notes

Here are some (potentially) interesting tidbits about specific trends for each team.

• Each team has averaged fewer defensive pass interference penalties than the NFL average (0.55). The Eagles average 0.40 DPIs per game; Kansas City has averaged 0.53.
• The Chiefs have been flagged just once for delay of game all season, below the NFL average of 5.4 for the full league. (The Eagles have been flagged four times for delay of game.)
• The Chiefs have averaged 1.0 false start per game, down from 1.24 as the NFL average. The Eagles have 27 false starts (1.35 per game). That includes six false starts in the playoffs.
• Kansas City committed two horse collar tackles (NFL average: 0.5).
• Philadelphia has the most penalties for ineligible players downfield on pass attempts (7) this season (0.35 per game). The Chiefs had no such flags.
• The Chiefs have been called for 31 offensive holding penalties, most of any team. They're averaging 1.63 holding flags per game (NFL average is 1.24). The Eagles' rate is 1.02 per game, a top-10 holding avoidance rate.
• The Eagles committed 4 roughing the passer penalties this season (0.20 per game). The NFL average is 0.18. Kansas City has just one roughing the passer call all year.
  • The Chiefs have benefitted from 5 roughing the passer calls (0.26 per game), marginally above the league average of 0.18.
  • The Eagles have benefitted from just 2 roughing the passer calls (0.10 per game).
• The Eagles have, though, benefitted from 11 unnecessary roughness flags this season, second-most of any team. That number for the Chiefs is just three (tied for third-fewest).

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