Hold On – Week 4

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October 4, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

Through week 4 of games, 817 penalties have been enforced in 64 games yielding an average of 6.38 penalties per team per game. Washington had been called for 25 penalties across 4 games for an average of 6.25 penalties per game which is slightly under the league average. They are tied for 19th most penalties along with Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and Los Angeles Rams.

The top 5 penalized team across the league are:

  1. Carolina & Arizona – 34
  2. Denver – 33
  3. Seattle – 32
  4. Green Bay – 31

The top 5 penalty calls across the league are:

  1. False Start, 171 times
  2. Offensive Holding, 150 times
  3. Defensive Pass Interference, 75 times
  4. Defensive Holding, 46 times
  5. Unnecessary Roughness, 45 times

As of week 3, unnecessary roughness is being called 22.8% more over the 2022 season when looking at the count per game stat. So, the increased call rate for these calls continues.

Week 4 Summary

Philadelphia – 11 accepted penalties (1 declined) for 81 yards, gave up 5 first downs via penalty

Washington – 7 accepted penalties (2 declined) for 41 yards, gave up 3 first downs via penalty

Thoughts

Outside of week 3, Washington has committed seven or more penalties in every game. The Commanders are not currently a team that can make several mistakes and overcome them on a consistent basis. Sacks, turnovers, and penalties are all part of the recipe for disaster games like the Bills game.

Andrew Wylie is proving to be less than what was hoped for with his penalties and sacks allowed. The inability of the Commanders front office to identify quality free agent offensive lineman and failure to draft above-average draft picks for the OL are hindering the progress of improvement for the team. The starting five offensive linemen have been flagged for 7 penalties through four games with Wylie and Nick Gates each with two and the rest with one each.

This is the summary of penalties committed by each team:

By Penalty:

Penalty Philadelphia Washington Grand Total
Defensive Holding 1 1 2
Defensive Offside 1 0 1
Defensive Pass Interference 2 1 3
Face Mask 0 1 1
False Start 2 2 4
Illegal Formation 0 1 1
Intentional Grounding 1 0 1
Offensive Offside 1 0 1
Roughing the Passer 0 1 1
Taunting 1 0 1
Unnecessary Roughness 2 0 2
Grand Total 11 7 18

By Unit:

Team Defense Offense ST Grand Total
Philadelphia 6 5 0 11
Washington 4 3 0 7
Grand Total 10 8 0 18

By Player:

Against Player Penalty Accepted Declined
Philadelphia T. Edmunds Unnecessary Roughness 2 0
L. Dickerson False Start 1 0
Offensive Offside 1 0
A. Brown Taunting 1 0
Z. Cunningham Defensive Holding 1 0
D. Slay Defensive Pass Interference 1 0
N. Smith Defensive Offside 1 0
J. Mailata False Start 1 0
J. Hurts Intentional Grounding 1 0
J. Bradberry Defensive Pass Interference 1 0
J. Jobe Defensive Holding 0 1
Washington A. Wylie False Start 1 0
Offensive Holding 0 1
L. Thomas False Start 1 0
K. Fuller Defensive Pass Interference 1 0
D. Brown Illegal Formation 1 0
M. Sweat Roughing the Passer 1 0
J. Davis Defensive Holding 1 0
B. St-Juste Face Mask 1 0
K. Curl Illegal Contact 0 1

Season Total:

Player Accepted Declined
A. Wylie 2 1
J. Davis 2 0
N. Gates 2 0
J. Bates 2 0
C. Young 2 0
K. Fuller 1 1
C. Leno 1 0
S. Cosmi 1 0
C. Holmes 1 0
Offense 1 0
L. Thomas 1 0
S. Charles 1 0
Defense 1 0
M. Sweat 1 0
J. Dotson 1 0
D. Mayo 1 0
J. Martin 1 0
D. Brown 1 0
E. Forbes 1 0
B. St-Juste 1 0
K. Curl 0 1
J. Smith-Williams 0 1

 

Sources: nfl.com, nflpenalties.com