Your instincts were correct if you felt like NFL officials were throwing more flags in the 2021 season. Penalties ticked up to 13.88 per game during the regular season, a bit higher than in the 2020 season (13.14) but still way below where they were in 2019 (16.17) and 2018 (15.87).
That’s the longer-term context as you watch this year’s postseason games. It would be a surprise if we saw many penalty-filled games, and with any luck we’ll spend the next four weeks talking about the performance of players and coaches, not about the fouls that were called (or uncalled) against them.
But there are many rules-based twists and turns to consider beyond flags. In the 2020 AFC Championship Game, for instance, then-NFL senior vice president Al Riveron allowed a review for a nonreviewable play. Ultimately, he reversed a call that should not have been looked at in the game that decided who would…
