Hold On – Week 3
September 29, 2021
By Noonefromtampa
Washington’s player penalty analysis is much better than the actual game play analysis. The officiating crew left something to be desired, though, as they missed a number of obvious calls against both teams. Fortunately, the referees did not significantly affect the outcome of the game – that was only thanks to Washington’s performance.
Overall penalties were down this week, which begs the question whether the shortened play time for starters in the preseason adversely affected the number of penalties committed in the first two weeks of the season. Across all NFL teams, for the first three weeks, teams averaged 6.7 calls/game week 1, 6.9 calls/game week 2 and 6.1 calls/week in week 3.
League Wide Numbers
The most penalized team in the league is the Philadelphia Eagles, with 35 penalties called against them. Washington is tied for sixth. The NFL’s most penalized players are Eagles offensive lineman Isaac Seumalo, Raiders offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood, and Jaguars offensive lineman Andrew Norwell, who have each been flagged for four penalties.
Week 3 Numbers
Game Summary:
| Team | Penalties | Yards | First Downs |
| Buffalo Bills | 5 | 30 | 1 |
| Washington | 5 | 38 | 2 |
Penalties called:
| Penalty | Buffalo | Washington | Grand Total |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| False Start | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Illegal Contact | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 5 | 5 | 10 |
Penalties by Unit:
| Team | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| Buffalo | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Washington | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Grand Total | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
By Player:
| Player | Penalty | Accepted | Declined |
| W. Jackson | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 |
| E. Sanders | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| J. McKissic | Offensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 |
| T. Matakevich | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 |
| J. Hughes | Illegal Blindside Block | 0 | 1 |
| T. Edmunds | Defensive Holding | 0 | 1 |
| T. Johnson | Illegal Contact | 1 | 0 |
| S. Diggs | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| J. Bates | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 |
| L. Thomas | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 |
| T. Heinicke | Illegal Forward Pass | 1 | 0 |
| J. Poyer | Illegal Contact | 1 | 0 |
Trends
The downward trend that continued for Washington were the calls for false start/delay of game and defensive offsides/neutral zone infractions, with no calls for these simple mistakes.
Game Impactors
- The offensive pass interference call on J.D. McKissic on the first offensive series negated a third down conversion, took away a 16 yard play by Terry McLaurin, and killed the drive with Buffalo already leading 7-0.
- William Jackson III called for defensive pass interference on a 3rd down and 8 yards to go, which resulted in an automatic first down that continued a drive in which Buffalo scored six plays later. That put the Bills up 14-0 and there was no looking back from then on.
Overall Season Numbers
By Player:
| Player | Accepted | Offset |
| C. Young | 3 | 0 |
| W. Jackson | 3 | 0 |
| T. Apke | 2 | 0 |
| B. Scherff | 2 | 0 |
| S. Cosmi | 2 | 0 |
| J. McKissic | 1 | 0 |
| J. Smith-Williams | 1 | 0 |
| L. Thomas | 1 | 0 |
| C. Cheeseman | 1 | 0 |
| K. Fuller | 1 | 0 |
| J. Bates | 1 | 0 |
| A. Humphries | 1 | 0 |
| T. Heinicke | 1 | 0 |
| L. Collins | 1 | 0 |
| J. Patterson | 1 | 0 |
| A. Gibson | 0 | 1 |
By Penalty and Unit:
| Penalty | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| Offensive Holding | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| False Start | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Illegal Double Team Block | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Clipping | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Roughing the Passer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 9 | 8 | 5 | 22 |
Week to Week:
| Penalty | 1 | 2 | 3 | Grand Total |
| Clipping | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Holding | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| False Start | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Illegal Double Team Block | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Roughing the Passer | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 8 | 9 | 5 | 22 |
If you have any questions on penalties post them in the comments section or hit me up on Twitter @noonefromtampa.