Hold On – Week 13
December 8, 2021
By Noonefromtampa
Four straight wins in a row, – we have a streak going. As Al Davis once said, “Just win baby!”. That is how the Washington Football Team holds onto its precarious spot in the NFL playoffs.
The penalty calls this week went back up, from four penalty calls to six calls. The league average for the season is 6.22 calls per team in a game while week 13 saw the average being 5.61 calls per team in a game. Washington continued the trend of being under the league average for the season (5.67 calls average versus the 6.22 calls league wide) but were over the weekly average (6 versus 5.61).
League Wide Numbers
The Dallas Cowboys have jumped to the top spot of being the most penalized team with 96 calls, Las Vegas is second with 95 calls and Carolina is in third place with 88 calls. Washington is in 25th place with 68 total calls.
Vikings offensive lineman Olisaemeka Udoh is the most penalized player in the league with 11 total calls against him. Dallas offensive lineman Conner Williams, Raiders offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood, and Dolphins offensive lineman Austin Jackson are right behind him with 10 calls each. William Jackson III is the leading Washington player with 6 calls, tying him for 25th place league-wide.
Week 10 Numbers
Game Summary:
| Team | Penalties | Yards | First Downs |
| Las Vegas | 6 | 54 | 3 |
| Washington | 6 | 47 | 4 |
Penalties called:
| Penalty | Las Vegas | Washington | Grand Total |
| Defensive Holding | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Defensive Offside | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| False Start | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Low Block | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Roughing the Passer | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Grand Total | 6 | 6 | 12 |
Penalties by Unit:
| Team | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| Las Vegas | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
| Washington | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| Grand Total | 8 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
By Player:
| Player | Penalty | Accepted | Declined |
| B. Facyson | Defensive Holding | 2 | 0 |
| B. Scherff | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| C. Holcomb | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 |
| C. Toohill | Roughing the Passer | 1 | 0 |
| D. Payne | Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 |
| J. Abram | Low Block | 1 | 0 |
| K. Ismael | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 |
| L. Thomas | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| M. Crosby | Roughing the Passer | 1 | 0 |
| R. Teamer | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 |
| Y. Ngakoue | Defensive Offside | 1 | 0 |
| A. Leatherwood | Offensive Holding | 0 | 1 |
| J. Simpson | Offensive Holding | 0 | 1 |
| J. Smith-Williams | Illegal Use of Hands | 0 | 1 |
Trends and Impacts
False starts were a problem again this week for Washington (14 for the season). Brandon Scherff and Logan Thomas were both called for this. With all the line shuffling and substitutions, only one offensive holding penalty was called on Keith Ismael. Hats off to offensive line coach John Matsko for having the backup players well prepared.
After stopping the Raiders on their first drive, Washington’s next series saw them pick up a first down. Then they were faced with a third and four situation and Brandon Scherff was called for a false start. On third and nine, Wendall Smallwood picked up 7 yards, which is good when you’re at 3rd and 4 but bad when you’re at 3rd and 9 yards to go for a first down.
On Washington’s last touchdown drive, Keith Ismael was called for offensive holding backing Washington to their own 25-yard line. Johnathan Abram was then called for a low block for cutting the blocker on a screen pass to John Bates. This took a first and 20 at the Washington 25-yard line to a first and 10 at the Washington 40-yard line. Two plays later Brandon Facyson was called for defensive giving Washington another first down. Washington then hit a big 35-yard pass play and Antonio Gibson scored 6 plays later. The two penalties extended the drive to the point where Washington was able to get a big play and move deep into their opponent’s territory.
On the Raiders only touchdown drive, Washington committed three penalties in the span of little more than a minute of game play, all of then giving Las Vegas a first down. Daron Payne was called for defensive holding on the running back on a screen play. Casey Toohill was for roughing the passer for a let hit on Derek Carr. Cole Holcomb was called for defensive pass interference on Hunter Renfrow in the endzone setting up a first and goal at the 1-yard line for the Raiders. That is not an example of how to get an opponent’s offense off the field.
Both teams gave up way too much easy yards on penalties, but there were no critical penalties that impacted the direction of the game.
Washington Overall Season Numbers
By Player:
| Player | Accepted | Declined | Offset |
| W. Jackson | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| B. Scherff | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Young | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| R. Seals-Jones | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| W. Schweitzer | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Offense | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Payne | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Cosmi | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Curl | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Smith-Williams | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| K. Hudson | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Sweat | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| B. St-Juste | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Apke | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Charles | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| J. McKissic | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Holcomb | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Thomas | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| T. McLaurin | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Davis | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Leno | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Roullier | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Patterson | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Ismael | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Fuller | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Gandy-Golden | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Cheeseman | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Collins | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Bates | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Way | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Lucas | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Humphries | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Toohill | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Heinicke | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T. McTyer | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Gibson | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| E. Flowers | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| T. Larsen | 0 | 1 | 0 |
By Penalty and Unit:
| Penalty | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| False Start | 0 | 11 | 3 | 14 |
| Offensive Holding | 0 | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Roughing the Passer | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Defensive Offside | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Delay of Game | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Defensive Holding | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Face Mask | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Illegal Touch Kick | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Double Team Block | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Horse Collar Tackle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Low Block | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Taunting | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Clipping | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Formation | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 28 | 30 | 10 | 68 |
Week to Week:
| Row Labels | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Grand Total |
| False Start | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Roughing the Passer | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Defensive Offside | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Delay of Game | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Defensive Holding | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Face Mask | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Illegal Touch Kick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Double Team Block | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Horse Collar Tackle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Low Block | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Taunting | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Clipping | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Formation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 8 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 68 |
The most common penalties committed by Washington during the season have been false start with 14 calls; offensive holding with 12 calls; and defensive pass interference with 9 calls. The offense leads the defense by two penalties 30 to 28.
As always, if you have any questions on penalties, please post them in the comments section or hit me up on Twitter @noonefromtampa.