Steelers G David DeCastro Is A Penalty Machine In 2016

In Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Pittsburgh Steelers were penalized a total of seven times during the game for 104 yards. Not only did the first three penalties committed during the first half the game by the Steelers hurt, a few in the second half did as well.

During the second half, Steelers guard David DeCastro was flagged three times and two of those, a holding call and a false start, ultimately resulted in drives stalling. One other penalty on DeCastro, a holding call, came during the Steelers late two-point conversion try following their lone touchdown of the game.

It’s been a rough season for DeCastro penalty-wise as the former first round draft pick has now been flagged a total of 14 times and he’ll enter Week 16 as the second-most penalized player in the league behind only Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman (15) and Los Angeles Rams tackle Greg Robinson (15).

While three of DeCastro’s 14 penalties were ultimately declined, the 11 that were accepted not only resulted in 77 penalty yards, but they also resulted in 43 nullified yards of offense. If that’s not enough, eight of DeCastro’s penalties ultimately stalled drives and only New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has more (9) of those entering Week 16 of the regular season.

Last season, Steelers center Cody Wallace led the team in penalties with 13 and seven of those resulted in stalled drives. In 2008, ex-Steelers offensive lineman Willie Colon was flagged 13 times. Searching back to 1999, no Steelers player has been penalized more in a single season than DeCastro has this year. In case you’re curious, DeCastro has been flagged nine times for holding and five times for a false start.

DeCastro obviously needs to get these penalties under control during the final two weeks of the regular season and hopefully the playoffs as well.

2016 Offensive Lineman Penalty Leaders Through Week 15