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Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers have shot at NFL penalty records

The Buffalo Bills have taken a crazy-high number of penalties for a very large amount of yardage this year, but are they on NFL record pace in either category? Not quite.

Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are neck and neck coming down the stretch to be the most penalized team in the 2015 regular season. Both are within reach of setting dubious NFL records for most penalties and most penalty yards by one team in a single season. Via NFLPenalties.com:

Week 16 penalties

The 2011 Oakland Raiders currently hold the record for most penalties in a season, with 163 in 2011. The 2013 (Super Bowl champions) Seattle Seahawks hold the record for most penalty yards with 1,415. While the Bills and Bucs don't match the pace of those record-holders, a pair of bad weeks with multiple replacement players could put either over the top.

Tampa Bay currently leads the league with 134 penalties, two ahead of Buffalo. 9.6 penalties per game would put the Buccaneers at 153 accepted penalties, to fall short of the record. With Buffalo putting up 17 penalties against the Giants and 15 a week ago against the Eagles, the record is still in reach for Rex Ryan's club with another ugly game or two.

In terms of penalty yardage, the Bills have averaged more than 80 yards per game in accepted penalties, which puts them on pace for just over 1,300 yards, a football field from the record. The most yards they've surrendered via flags was 140 against New England and 135 against the Giants. Two outings like that pair would put them over the top.