What is the record for most NFL penalties in a game? (2024)

The 2021 Thanksgiving game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys saw an excessive number of yellow flags, but it doesn’t come close to the league record. Interestingly, professional football’s highest number of penalties was nearly 72 years before that matchup.

The Cowboys’heartbreaking 36-33 lossto the Raiders was riddled with infractions, with 14 being called for each team. The 28 penaltiesfor 276 yards set some records, but they were not league-high numbers.

72nd anniversary

On Nov. 25, 1951, the Cleveland Browns demolished the Chicago Bears 42-21, and the game settwo recordsalong the way. The Bears received 16 penalties for 165 yards, while the Browns got 21 for 209.

The combined number of37 is the record for penaltiesin a single professional football game, and so wasthe total of 374 yards.

47 years ago

However, there is another record worthy of note. The most penalized gamein modern NFL history, marked by the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, was held on Oct. 17, 1976, between the Seattle Seahawks and theTampa Bay Buccaneers.

The referees called a total of39 penalties for 310 yards, but two of the penalties were declined, and two others offset each other. The official tally at the end of the game was35 penalties- 20 for the Buccaneers and 15 for the Seahawks.

Flag-throwing spree for the Raiders

The Buccaneers were also part of another record-setting game for penalties. On Oct. 30, 2016, the Bucs lost 30-24 in overtime to the Oakland Raiders, who set the record forthe most penalties (23 for 200 yards) by one team in a single game.