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Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark had fans on the edge of their seats last Sunday during the team’s 27-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — but not for the usual reasons.
Instead, the Pro Bowl pass rusher was on the receiving end of a pair of roughing the passer penalties against Tom Brady on the same drive, ultimately allowing the Bucs to shrink the scoreboard gap with another fourth-quarter touchdown. Fortunately, the defending Super Bowl champions clamped down and didn’t pay for those missteps, but it appears Clark will be feeling the impact financially.
According to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero on Saturday afternoon, the NFL has docked Clark $15,000 for his Week 12 infractions.
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Frank Clark Unapologetic Over Untimely Penalties
While speaking to reporters during his scheduled media availability on Friday, Clark was asked on multiple occasions for his thoughts on his overall performance this season and whether there is a need to correct potential issues popping up on tape.
“I feel like it’s going alright, I feel like it can always be better, but I got more years in this game,” said Clark. “I take everything – I’m very competitive so of course, I want to be at the top. I know how hard I work and what I do to put into this game, but I know that will come.
“My coaches, they understand me, they know how I am especially when it comes to my competitive nature. I want to be the best, that’s all I care about. I don’t care about anything else. I don’t care about second place; I don’t care about the middle or in between. I want to be the best, that’s all I care about.”
On the penalties specifically, his response wasn’t exactly apologetic but rather based in some sort of career karma.
“I ain’t correcting nothing,” Clark continued. “Those were my first two, roughing the passer penalties in my career. I owe some more, you know what I’m saying. I’m cool, we’ll be alright. I don’t owe anymore for this year, I told coach Spags [Steve Spagnuolo] that I ain’t going to do no more this year. Probably next year, but not this year.”
As USA Today’s Chiefs Wire first pointed out, Sunday’s roughing the passer calls were the first against Clark during his Chiefs career, however the sixth-year defender did also commit one in 2017 during his time with the Seattle Seahawks.
Chiefs Among NFL’s Most Penalized Teams in 2020
On the whole, Kansas City was flagged 10 times in Week 12 alone, its second consecutive contest with double-digit penalties and fourth overall this season.
The Chiefs’ 76 team penalties through the first 11 games currently rank fourth-most in the league, trailing only the Arizona Cardinals (85), Buffalo Bills (77) and Carolina Panthers (77). The New England Patriots have committed the fewest violations thus far with only 42 heading into Week 13, per NFL Penalties.
Andy Reid’s squad will need to show more discipline down the final stretch as they look to overtake the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers (11-0) for the AFC’s No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye week. All but one of Kansas City’s remaining opponents currently rank in the bottom 20 for fewest penalties committed this season:
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