Hold On – Week 4
October 6, 2021
By Noonefromtampa
Week 4 seems to have brought out the comments on officiating from fans, players and coaches, the main theme being the lack of quality and consistency in the calls made and not made. Joey Bosa called the officials “blind”. Vic Fangio, head coach of the Broncos, sent in tape of ahead of the Ravens criticizing them for illegal hits which he then complained about after the game. The fans roasted the NFL on social media for the absurd taunting call on Darren Waller in the Raiders-Chargers game. Plus, don’t get me started on Chase Young’s roughing the passer call. Please, Roger Goodell, put the quarterbacks in an electronic sensor uniform so the defensive players only have to tag them down, or make the quarterbacks wear skirts.
Overall, Washington Football Team penalties were up one this week from last week. The six penalties called in week 4 is still slightly under the league average for the season of 6.45 calls per team in a game. Across all NFL teams in week 4, on average, 6.1 calls were made against each team in a game.
League Wide Numbers
The most penalized team is the Philadelphia with 44 against. Washington is in seventh place. The most penalized players are Alex Leatherwood, the offensive lineman from the Las Vegas Raiders with 6 penalties and Jalen Mayfield, the Falcons offensive lineman, with five penalties. There are nine players tied for third place with 4 penalties including Chase Young and William Jackson III from Washington.
Week 4 Numbers
Game Summary:
| Team | Penalties | Yards | First Downs |
| Atlanta | 7 | 36 | 3 |
| Washington | 6 | 85 | 2 |
Penalties called:
| Penalty | Atlanta | Washington | Grand Total |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Offside | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Encroachment | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| False Start | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Illegal Contact | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Formation | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Roughing the Passer | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 7 | 6 | 13 |
Penalties by Unit:
| Team | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| Atlanta | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Washington | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Grand Total | 5 | 6 | 2 | 13 |
By Player:
| Player | Penalty | Accepted | Declined |
| C. Young | Roughing the Passer | 1 | 0 |
| W. Jackson | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 |
| S. Cosmi | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| J. Mayfield | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 | |
| F. Moreau | Defensive Pass Interference | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 | |
| H. Hurst | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| G. Jarrett | Encroachment | 1 | 0 |
| T. McTyer | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 |
| F. Oluokun | Defensive Holding | 0 | 1 |
| R. Seals-Jones | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| A. Terrell | Illegal Contact | 1 | 0 |
| T. McLaurin | Illegal Formation | 1 | 0 |
| D. Fowler | Defensive Offside | 1 | 0 |
Trends
Washington’s offense was called for two false starts and one illegal formation, letting simple mental mistakes creep back into their game. Defensively there were no calls for defensive offsides/neutral zone infractions. The defense did get called for two defensive pass interference calls. The fifth and sixth calls for that through four weeks. Is this indicative of bad play or players trying to cover for mistakes in the coverages? Right now, it is probably some of both.
Game Impactors
- On third and eight, Torry McTyer [who is now out for the season with a torn ACL] committed a 28-yard defensive pass interference penalty on Calvin Ridley. With the first down, Atlanta was able to keep the drive going, resulting in a Cordarrelle Patterson touchdown reception of 12 yards.
- On fourth and two, with Atlanta going for it because their punter was injured, Chase Young was called for roughing the passer on a sack of Matt Ryan. [Officially Ryan was ruled down by contact and the interception by Bobby McCain did not factor in to the play.]
Overall Season Numbers
By Player:
| Player | Accepted | Offset |
| C. Young | 4 | 0 |
| W. Jackson | 4 | 0 |
| S. Cosmi | 3 | 0 |
| T. Apke | 2 | 0 |
| B. Scherff | 2 | 0 |
| J. McKissic | 1 | 0 |
| C. Cheeseman | 1 | 0 |
| T. McTyer | 1 | 0 |
| A. Humphries | 1 | 0 |
| K. Fuller | 1 | 0 |
| J. Bates | 1 | 0 |
| J. Smith-Williams | 1 | 0 |
| L. Thomas | 1 | 0 |
| T. Heinicke | 1 | 0 |
| T. McLaurin | 1 | 0 |
| R. Seals-Jones | 1 | 0 |
| J. Patterson | 1 | 0 |
| L. Collins | 1 | 0 |
| A. Gibson | 0 | 1 |
By Penalty and Unit:
| Penalty | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| False Start | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Offensive Holding | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Roughing the Passer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Clipping | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Formation | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Double Team Block | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 12 | 10 | 6 | 28 |
Week to Week:
| Penalty | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Grand Total |
| Clipping | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Holding | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| False Start | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Illegal Double Team Block | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Roughing the Passer | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Formation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 8 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 28 |
If you have any question on penalties, please post them in the comments section or hit me up on Twitter @noonefromtampa.