Equating penalties with “cheating” is kind of a stretch. A lot of penalties - illegal motion, offside, delay of game, too many men on the field, illegal formation, etc. - are the result of timing errors, lack of concentration, or simple confusion, not deliberate efforts to obtain some sort of illegal advantage.
Seattle has committed 144 penalties this year. Their opponents 80. Sorry, but the Seahawks (as a winning team) are not that ill-concentrated, confused, disoriented, impulsively jumping the gun, etc. to the degree of almost twice their opponents. (If they were, they wouldn't be where they are).
(But, hey, you get an "A" for a good apologetic try there)
Michael Bennet (d-line) was on the radio a few months ago and they asked him what was going to happen during the game.
“I'll be called for off-sides” he said with a laugh.
One of the radio guys laughed, and argued later that is the price they pay sometimes for anticipating the hike and getting off the mark right on time.
The other radio guy was angry, saying that if he knows it is a problem, work on it more.
I think the Seahawks have shown that it is better to play right on the edge and be aggressive and risk a miss-timed snap rather than playing it safe so they won't get the penalties. Although when it is third and two and they get called for offsides it is frustrating, or after Marshawn gets a touchdown and it is called back. Ugh!
The ones that make me mad are the 15-yard penalties of taunting or way-late hits. That is just being un-disciplined in almost all of the cases. Although the Seahawks got called on that a few weeks ago where the punt-receiver called a fair catch and Lockette just couldn't/didn't slow up in time and he barely knocked into the guy (nobody fell down, he was trying to stop). I suppose that could be marked up to “playing on the edge”.
In coaching my girl's soccer team, the ref played a part in how we played. If they called a bunch of stuff you had to play less aggressive. If they let you play, you played more aggressive. And no complaining at the ref - they were part of the game, just like the field conditions would change, etc.
Although if some player on the other team was playing too rough and illegal I would point it out quietly to the ref.