Dirtiest? No
For several years in a row, the Raiders held the distinction of being highest in penalties (when Art Shell was their coach)...I think they took a brief hiatus from those "honors"...and then resumed it.
Now I'm objective. The Broncos once upon a time weren't above dirty play. I recall seeing a "60 Minutes" interview of retired Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski, who admitted one time he reached down into the bottom of a pile, took an unknown opposition player's finger, and broke it.
Romanowski admitted taking all kinds of "enhancers."
Wikipedia correctly lists some of his problems -- when he was with the Eagles, Broncos and Raiders:
Romanowski has been involved in numerous altercations with both teammates and opponents. In 1995, while with the Eagles, he was ejected from a game — and subsequently fined $4,500 — for kicking Arizona Cardinals fullback Larry Centers in the head.[1]
Two more incidents occurred during the 1997 season while he played for the Broncos: In the first, he was fined $20,000 after a helmet-to-helmet hit on then-Carolina Panthers quarterback Kerry Collins in a preseason game resulting in Collins sustaining a broken jaw;[1] in the second, Romanowski spat in the face of 49ers wide receiver J. J. Stokes in a regular-season game played in December on a Monday night in response to Stokes' taunting.[2] Two years later, while still with the Broncos, he was fined a total of $42,500 for three illegal hits plus a punch thrown at Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez, and was also fined an undisclosed amount for throwing a football at Bryan Cox of the New York Jets, the ball hitting him in the crotch area.[3]
In 2003, Romanowski attacked and injured one of his teammates, Marcus Williams, during a scrimmage. Williams, a backup tight end for the Oakland Raiders, was forced to retire after Romanowski confronted Williams after a play, ripped off his helmet, and crushed his eye socket with a punch.[4] Williams sued for damages of $3.4 million, arguing that Romanowski had been suffering from "roid rage" when he attacked him. This argument was later rejected by the judge on the grounds that Williams could not prove that Romanowski had actually used steroids on the same day as the attack. Williams was awarded $340,000. Williams was quoted as saying he and his lawyers "just wanted to prove what was right and wrong about football".[5]
Source: Bill Romanowski
My point in the Broncos-Steelers game is that I've never seen three facemask penalties in a single game AT ANY LEVEL...let alone three uncalled facemasks occurring all in the same quarter as what the Steelers unleashed Sunday!
And since two of those occurred vs. Tebow, ya gotta wonder how much of a personal vendetta it was by the Steelers' defense.
My point in the Broncos-Steelers game is that I’ve never seen three facemask penalties in a single game AT ANY LEVEL...let alone three uncalled facemasks occurring all in the same quarter as what the Steelers unleashed Sunday!
My post had nothing to say about the most penalized team at all. I’ve seen the Steelers get by with it since the Chuck Knoll days