Hold On – Week 5
October 16, 2021
By Noonefromtampa
Week 5 saw some interesting call across the various games. A rare leverage call against Denver allowed Pittsburgh to convert a field goal attempt into a touchdown. There was also a tripping call in the Packers-Bengals game. The last leverage call, which involved a player jumping on another player in an attempt to block a kick, was called in 2019. Tripping, which is less rare, gets called about 6 times a year.
For those who watched a number of games from last week and thought there were a lot of defensive pass interference calls, you weren’t crazy – there were 29 calls. An average week would have about 17 calls or 1 per game. In the Washington game, the Saints were called for defensive pass interference three times.
Overall, Washington Football Team penalties were down one to five this week from last week. The league average for the season has dropped to 6.38 calls per team in a game. Across all NFL teams in week 5, the average calls against a team in a game was 6.1 calls.
League Wide Numbers
The most penalized team is the Philadelphia Eagles with 50 against them. Washington is tied for ninth place with 33 calls. Three players are tied most penalized with 5 accepted call Jalen Mayfield , the Falcons offensive lineman, Nathan Shepard, the Jets’ defensive lineman, and Washington’s own William Jackson III.
Week 5 Numbers
Game Summary:
| Team | Penalties | Yards | First Downs |
| New Orleans | 6 | 45 | 1 |
| Washington | 5 | 37 | 4 |
Penalties called:
| New Orleans | Washington | Grand Total | |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Delay of Game | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| False Start | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Offensive Holding | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Roughing the Kicker | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 6 | 5 | 11 |
Penalties by Unit:
| Team | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| New Orleans | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Washington | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Grand Total | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
By Player:
| Player | Penalty | Accepted | Declined |
| W. Jackson | Unnecessary Roughness | 1 | 0 |
| C. Leno | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 |
| C. Granderson | Roughing the Kicker | 1 | 0 |
| B. Roby | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 |
| C. Roullier | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 |
| Offense | Delay of Game | 2 | 0 |
| Offense | Illegal Shift | 0 | 1 |
| S. Charles | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| A. Peat | Offensive Holding | 0 | 1 |
| W. Schweitzer | Ineligible Downfield Pass | 1 | 0 |
| D. Davis | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 |
| M. Lattimore | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 |
Trends
Washington was not called for a defensive pass interference call this week, which is remarkable considering the long touchdown throws by Jameis Winston. Saahdiq Charles, who saw his first regular season action this season, picked up a false start call which only cost the team one yard since the play started off at about Washington’s 2 yard line deep.
Game Impactors
- William Jackson III got called for unnecessary roughness for a head shot on Taysom Hill, which knocked Hill out of the game. The Saints were unable to use their short yardage package with Hill after that, although it ultimately didn’t mattered much in the bigger scope of things.
- On a botched snap, Taylor Heinicke was able to get control of the ball and complete a pass to Ricky Seals-Jones for 44 yards. Unfortunately, Wes Schweitzer had drifted up field blocking his man was called for illegal man downfield, negating the big play. With Washington down by seven points at that point in the game, it changed the momentum again in what was a see-saw game at that point.
Overall Season Numbers
By Player:
| Player | Accepted | Offset |
| W. Jackson | 5 | 0 |
| C. Young | 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 |
| 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 |
| C. Leno | 1 | 0 |
| S. Charles | 1 | 0 |
| C. Roullier | 1 | 0 |
| L. Collins | 1 | 0 |
| W. Schweitzer | 1 | 0 |
| J. Patterson | 1 | 0 |
| K. Fuller | 1 | 0 |
| A. Gibson | 0 | 1 |
By Penalty and Unit:
| Penalty | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| Offensive Holding | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| False Start | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 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 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 13 | 14 | 6 | 33 |
Week to Week:
| Penalty | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Grand Total |
| Clipping | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Holding | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| False Start | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Illegal Double Team Block | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Roughing the Passer | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Formation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 8 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 33 |
Any question on penalties, please post them in the comments section or hit me up on Twitter @noonefromtampa.