The Raiders Hold the NFL’s Season and Single-Game Penalty Records

The Oakland Raiders hold the NFL records for most accepted penalties in a regular season—163 in 2011—and in a single game—23 against Tampa Bay on October 30, 2016. Those are two specific records, not a claim about the largest cumulative franchise total. As of November 6, 2026, both remain atop StatMuse’s season rankings and single-game rankings.

If you mean the 2026 season leader, the answer through Week 8 is the Cleveland Browns, with 72 accepted penalties. That is a dated season snapshot, not an all-time record. StatMuse’s 2026 penalty rankings list Cleveland one penalty ahead of Green Bay.

The 2011 Raiders: 163 penalties in 16 games

A holding call against Rock Cartwright on the opening kickoff of the second half pushed Oakland into unwanted history. In their season-ending 38–26 loss to San Diego, the Raiders surpassed the 1998 Kansas City Chiefs’ record of 158 penalties. Oakland finished with 163 penalties for 1,358 yards, according to contemporary reporting in The Press Democrat.

That works out to 10.19 penalties and 84.88 penalty yards per game across a 16-game regular season. The Raiders finished 8–8, and coach Hue Jackson acknowledged that penalties had contributed to missing the playoffs. He distinguished the season-long problem from the immediate defeat: “That’s not why we lost today, but that is a problem on this football team.” The Press Democrat recorded his assessment after the game.

The leading season totals show that Oakland’s record was not an isolated appearance near the top:

Team	Season	Accepted penalties	Games
Oakland Raiders	2011	163	16
Kansas City Chiefs	1998	158	16
Oakland Raiders	1996	156	16
Los Angeles Raiders	1994	156	16

Source: StatMuse’s single-season penalty rankings. The Raiders’ city names distinguish the franchise’s locations in those seasons.

The 2016 Raiders: 23 penalties—and a victory

Five years later, Oakland set the single-game record while winning 30–24 in overtime at Tampa Bay. Jack Del Rio’s team accumulated 23 accepted penalties for 200 yards. The previous mark was 22, shared by the 1944 Brooklyn Tigers, 1944 Chicago Bears and 1998 San Francisco 49ers, according to the NFL’s report on the record. The count excluded declined and offsetting penalties.

The penalties had tangible consequences. An offensive pass-interference call against Michael Crabtree erased a touchdown, and Oakland twice lined up with 12 defenders during the fourth-quarter drive that put Tampa Bay ahead 24–17. Yet Derek Carr threw for 513 yards and four touchdowns, including the overtime winner to Seth Roberts. The Associated Press game account at ESPN documents both the mistakes and Oakland’s escape.

Season leaders depend on what you count

The Week 8 snapshot of 2026 also illustrates the difference between penalty counts and yardage. While Cleveland led in accepted penalties, Green Bay led in penalty yards with 591, compared with Cleveland’s 505. Both teams had played eight games in the NFL Penalties league table.

For the latest completed regular season, 2025, Dallas led with 133 accepted penalties in 17 games. Denver led in penalty yardage with 1,149, despite having fewer accepted penalties, at 124. Those separate leaders appear in NFL Penalties’ regular-season table; StatMuse corroborates Dallas’s count.

The key distinction is accepted penalties versus total flags. NFL Penalties excludes declined and offsetting calls from its accepted count, while listing them separately. Its 2025 Dallas entry therefore shows 133 accepted penalties but 163 total flags—not a tie with Oakland’s 2011 record. Keep regular-season and playoff totals separate, too, and use per-game rates when comparing schedules of different lengths.