FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Referee Terry McAulay has been assigned Sunday's season finale between the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Entering Week 16, McAulay's crew ranked sixth in terms of most penalties called per game (17.2).
Penalties have been a hot topic of discussion with the Patriots, who have been flagged for the most accepted penalties in Bill Belichick's 15 years as coach (115, for 1,025 yards).
Though Belichick felt that the Patriots didn't play their best game this past Sunday against the Jets, he said one positive was a lower penalty total (6 total, 5 accepted). Also, cornerback Brandon Browner wasn't flagged in the game after picking up three the week before.
Here is the weekly Patriots breakdown:
PENALTY LEADERBOARD
CB Brandon Browner – 15
OT Nate Solder – 9
CB Logan Ryan – 8
TE Rob Gronkowski – 7
WR Brandon LaFell – 7
CB Malcolm Butler – 5
OT Marcus Cannon – 5
S Patrick Chung – 5
LB Jamie Collins -- 5
OL Jordan Devey – 5
C Bryan Stork – 5
CB Darrelle Revis – 4
Eight tied with 3 apiece
MOST FREQUENT INFRACTION
False start – 20
Holding (offensive) – 16
Holding (defensive) – 14
Pass interference (defense) – 11
Holding (special teams) – 8
Unnecessary roughness – 8
Illegal use of hands – 7
Illegal block above the waist (special teams) – 7
Pass interference (offensive) – 7
Facemask – 4
Illegal contact – 4