ESPN NFL

Officials have not flagged Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson since calling a 20-yard interference penalty against him in Week 11.

San Francisco was the opponent that day. The 49ers are the opponent Sunday.

Peterson's matchup with the 49ers' Michael Crabtree will be one to watch after Crabtree caught seven passes for 120 yards against the Cardinals in Week 11.

The chart shows Peterson ranking second behind Seattle's Brandon Browner in penalty yardage this season. Browner, like Peterson, is an aggressive corner. They appear willing to trade flags for tight coverage that can take a receiver off his game.

The St. Louis Rams trailed the Seattle Seahawks by three points when they sent Brandon Lloyd up the left sideline on a deep route against Brandon Browner.

Browner, the Seahawks' 6-foot-4 cornerback, gave no cushion at the line of scrimmage. Video replays showed his toes practically touching the blue stripe signifying the line of scrimmage. Browner was even closer to Lloyd when the pass from Sam Bradford arrived. Browner smothered Lloyd as he played the ball, breaking up the pass.



There was contact, and lots of it, but no penalty -- not this time, anyway.

Similar scenes have played out throughout the NFC West this season. With virtually no help from the San Francisco 49ers, the division has become the land of illegal contact and defensive pass interference.

It's a place where opposing receivers can expect rough treatment, particularly when facing Browner and the Arizona Cardinals' Patrick Peterson. Each of those corners has six penalties for illegal contact or defensive pass interference this season. Each has brought a physical brand of coverage to his team.

The two biggest safeties in the division, Arizona's Adrian Wilson and Seattle's Kam Chancellor, each have two such penalties.

Officials have flagged the Cardinals 15 times and assessed 183 yards against them for illegal contact and defensive pass interference this season. Both totals are league highs, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The Seahawks rank second with 12 such penalties (for 103 yards, which ranks seventh).

The Rams rank seventh with eight such penalties. The 49ers have only three, tied with Kansas City and Chicago for second-fewest in the league behind the New York Giants (two).

The 2011 Official Playing Rules and Casebook of the National Football League devotes 1,127 words to the section on roughing the passer.

Twenty-two words near the end sum up the spirit:

"If in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic on the quarterback, the referee should always call roughing the passer."

That sentence pretty much absolves referees from blame for penalizing acts that seem to be borderline infractions.

We discussed one such penalty against the Arizona Cardinals' Calais Campbell earlier.

Campbell leads the NFC West in roughing-the-passer penalties since 2009 with three. Teammate Clark Haggans, the San Francisco 49ers' Ahmad Brooks, the Seattle Seahawks' Raheem Brock and ex-Seahawk Patrick Kerney have two apiece since then.

Instead of focusing on players, I've put together a chart showing how many roughing calls each of the 17 current referees has called since 2009. Note that Clete Blakeman was not a referee until 2010. Officiating crews change members from time to time, but the referees are the ones responsible for most roughing calls, so these numbers hold up better.

Some referees call more penalties than others overall. Some have surely encountered more instances of roughing than others. But if you're a defensive end eager to mete out some old-school punishment on the opposing quarterback, it wouldn't hurt to know which referee was working the game that day.
.

The penalty charts produced here each week during the season generally single out players flagged the most.

This time, I'd also like to acknowledge players who have cut down on penalties.

San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis had 10 penalties in 2008 and 12 last season. He has only one through five games in 2010. The 49ers' Parys Haralson (eight last season) and Josh Morgan (seven) have one apiece this season.

Arizona Cardinals guard Deuce Lutui had 13 penalties in 2008 and five last season. He has one through five games in 2010, meaning the improvement he showed last season is carrying over.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant incurred nine penalties in 10 games last season after returning from a back injury. He has only one penalty in four games this season and that one seemed questionable, as I recall.

The charts break out penalties across specific categories, starting with a look at players with the most false-start penalties through Week 5. Totals count declined penalties based on data from Hank Gargiulo of ESPN Stats & Information.

The second chart ranks NFC West players by most penalties for offsides, encroachment and neutral-zone infractions.

The next chart ranks NFC West players by most penalties for defensive pass interference.

The final chart shows penalties against NFC West quarterbacks.

The 49ers' inability to get plays into the huddle on time resulted in delay penalties against Alex Smith. Smith also has three penalties for intentional grounding.

Only the Detroit Lions (44) and Tennessee Titans (42) have committed more penalties than the Arizona Cardinals (39) this season.

Only the Oakland Raiders have committed more (443 to 436) than Arizona since 2007.

This is not a new trend. From 2003 to 2006, the Cardinals committed more penalties (581) than all teams except the Raiders (602) and Minnesota Vikings (588).

My feeling over the years is that coaching staffs can set the tone for penalties, but that compliance ultimately comes down to the players a team employs. Some players commit more penalties than others. All penalties are not the same. Aggressive teams commit more personal fouls. Sloppy teams commit more procedural mistakes. Over-matched offensive linemen commit more holds.

Arizona has been penalized disproportionately for offsides, defensive pass interference and unsportsmanlike conduct.

The chart, backed by information from Hank Gargiulo of ESPN Stats & Information, breaks down NFC West penalties by team and type through Week 4. The numbers include declined penalties. One penalty was not specified.

A weekly in-season look at penalty issues in the NFC West:

The Arizona Cardinals made reducing penalties a priority when Ken Whisenhunt took over as head coach in 2007.

Penalties were down for Arizona in 2009, but they're back up this season. Only the Oakland Raiders (37) and Dallas Cowboys (35) have committed more than the Cardinals (33) through three games, counting declined penalties.

In fact, only the Raiders have committed more penalties than Arizona -- 441 to 430 -- since Whisenhunt took over. Fifteen teams committed more penalties than Arizona from the 2001 through 2006 seasons.

The subject came to mind after officials ejected Cardinals safety Kerry Rhodes from a Week 2 game against Atlanta for making contact with a game official. It was one of two personal fouls against Rhodes in the game.

Overall this season, officials have flagged Arizona five times for penalties labeled as unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct or personal foul, according to data from Hank Gargiulo of ESPN Stats & Information. Only the Tennessee Titans (42) and Baltimore Ravens (39) have more.

The chart shows league-wide totals in these categories since 2007. More specific 15-yard penalties (roughing the passer, etc.) were excluded.

Seattle has fewer of these penalties than any team -- 10, or one fewer than the Cardinals had in 2008. Some of that has to do with the swagger and aggressive style Arizona has favored over the years.

The weekly NFC West penalty watch shows San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith with five, but some explanation is appropriate.

Smith drew a penalty in Week 2 for illegally batting a ball out of the end zone after an errant snap. He drew another penalty for delay of game after tight end Vernon Davis failed to reach the huddle in time, apparently believing the team was in a TV timeout.

The Arizona Cardinals have drawn 24 penalties in two games, trailing only Oakland (26). These totals include declined penalties. The San Francisco 49ers have 17, the St. Louis Rams have 16 and the Seattle Seahawks have 14. Green Bay and Kansas City have a league-low eight apiece.

All penalty info is from Hank Gargiulo of ESPN Stats & Information.

Two penalties for delay of game and one for intentional grounding left San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith as the most penalized NFC West player through Week 1.

Quarterbacks aren't always to blame for delay penalties, but they're ultimately responsible. The Arizona Cardinals' Derek Anderson was the only other NFC West quarterback penalized during Week 1.

Philip Rivers (22), Brett Favre (18) and Kurt Warner (15) are the NFL's most penalized quarterbacks since 2008, according to information provided by Hank Gargiulo of ESPN Stats & Information. Warner's penalties declined from 12 in 2008 to three last season.

The chart shows the three NFC West players with more than one penalty through the regular-season opener. Counts include declined penalties.

Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant leads the NFL in pass-interference penalties despite playing in only six of 12 games this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

What did you think of the call against him during the 49ers game?

Six of Trufan'ts eight penalties this season were for pass interference. No other NFL player has more than four this season (the Rams' Ron Bartell is one of five players with four). Even if a few of those calls were debatable, it's clear Trufant has needed time to get comfortable following his return from a back injury. A little help from the Seattle pass rush would also help ease his transition.

Some officiating crews might call interference more closely than others. Walt Coleman's crew has called 18 of them this season. Carl Cheffers' crew has called four.

Referee Al Riveron worked the 49ers-Seahawks game in Week 13. His crew has called 11 penalties for pass interference this season, not far off of the league average (9.1).

If memory serves, NFC West senior officiating analysts Jim Mora and Ken Whisenhunt found fault with a few penalties called during the Seahawks-Cardinals game Sunday.

Doesn't matter. Disputed penalties still count on players' permanent records.

The Cardinals' starting offensive tackles have combined for 16 through nine games, but Rams tackle Alex Barron has each of them beat.