Hold On – Week 12
December 1, 2021
By Noonefromtampa
Is three wins in a row considered a streak? No, I’m not talking about running naked through public places, we’re talking about winning multiple games in a row for the first time this season. The two biggest factors have been the improved defensive showing and the continued maturation of Taylor Heinicke into a decent NFL caliber quarterback. What he lacks in arm strength, he is making up for in guts, determination and enthusiasm.
The Washington Football Team cut their penalty calls in half this week, dropping from eight penalty calls down to four. The league average for the season is 6.27 calls per team per game. In week 12 the average was 5.53 calls per team per game. One continued bright spot for Washington is the trend of being under the league average for the season (5.2 calls average versus the 6.27 calls league wide) 4 weekly calls versus league average of 5.53 calls.
League Wide Numbers
The Dallas Cowboys are now the most penalized team in the league with 91 calls against them, with Las Vegas in a close second with 89 calls while Carolina Panthers dropped to third place with 88 calls. Washington is in 26th place with 62 total calls.
Dallas offensive lineman Connor Williams, Raiders offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood, and Miami offensive lineman Austin Jackson are tied for the league lead with 10 accepted calls each. Vikings offensive lineman Oli Udoh, Dallas cornerback Trevon Diggs, and Cleveland defensive lineman Malik McDowell are tied for 4th place with 9 calls each. William Jackson III leads Washington with 6 calls, tying him for 22nd place league-wide with 18 other players.
Week 12 Numbers
Game Summary:
| Team | Penalties | Yards | First Downs |
| Seattle | 6 | 51 | 1 |
| Washington | 4 | 38 | 4 |
Penalties called:
| Penalty | Seattle | Washington | Grand Total |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Delay of Game | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| False Start | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Illegal Formation | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Roughing the Passer | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 6 | 4 | 10 |
Penalties by Unit:
| Team | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| Seattle | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Washington | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Grand Total | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
By Player:
| Player | Penalty | Accepted | Declined | Offset |
| B. Scherff | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Dunlap | Neutral Zone Infraction | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Lucas | False Start | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Reed | Defensive Holding | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| G. Heslop | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Jackson | Offensive Holding | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| K. Curl | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Seattle Special Teams | Illegal Formation | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Washington Offense | Delay of Game | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Green | Roughing the Passer | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Jones | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| U. Amadi | Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Trends and Impacts
Washington has slowly moved into the bottom third of the league in penalty calls. The more disciplined play has led to less mistakes and more wins on the field.
Week 12 saw a number of game-impacting penalties and officiating decisions. Ugo Amadi was called for holding on Washington’s first touchdown drive, extending the drive on a failed third down pass attempt. Rasheem Green also was flagged for roughing the passer on the same drive which put the ball on the Seattle 27 yard line.
In the fourth quarter, Brandon Scherff was called for offensive holding on fourth and one in which Antonio Gibson picked 37 yards rushing around the right end. Instead of first and goal, Washington was forced to punt the ball back to Seattle.
At the 3:38 mark in the 4th, Washington took an unnecessary delay of game penalty when the play clock wound down to zero and nobody thought to call a timeout. This did not impact the drive because DeAndre Carter then caught a 15 yard reception from Taylor Heinicke on fourth down to pick up the first down.
Again on 4th down late in the game, Heinicke hit Logan Thomas for an apparent game sealing touchdown. The call was overturned upon review. Seattle was able to take the turnover on downs and then scored, in part thanks to a Kamren Curl defensive pass interference call.
Kendall Fuller intercepted the 2-point conversion pass attempt to force an even more bizarre finale to the game.
Seattle recovered the onside kick but one of their players was lined up incorrectly, forcing a re-kick. Adam Humphries recovered the second kick to end Seattle’s chances of winning the game.
Overall Season Numbers
By Player:
| Player | Accepted | Declined | Offset |
| W. Jackson | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| C. Young | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| B. Scherff | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| W. Schweitzer | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Seals-Jones | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Cosmi | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Curl | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Offense | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| J. McKissic | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| B. St-Juste | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Hudson | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Payne | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Apke | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Charles | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Sweat | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| T. McLaurin | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Heinicke | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Bates | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Way | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Gibson | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Gandy-Golden | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Holcomb | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T. McTyer | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Larsen | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C. Cheeseman | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Smith-Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Thomas | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Collins | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Davis | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Patterson | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Flowers | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| A. Humphries | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Fuller | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Lucas | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Leno | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Roullier | 1 | 0 | 0 |
By Penalty and Unit:
| Penalty | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| False Start | 0 | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| Offensive Holding | 0 | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Defensive Offside | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Delay of Game | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Roughing the Passer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Defensive Holding | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Face Mask | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Illegal Touch Kick | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Formation | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Clipping | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Low Block | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Taunting | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Horse Collar Tackle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Double Team Block | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 25 | 27 | 10 | 62 |
Week to Week:
| Row Labels | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Grand Total |
| False Start | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Defensive Offside | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Delay of Game | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Roughing the Passer | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Defensive Holding | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Face Mask | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Illegal Touch Kick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Formation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Clipping | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Low Block | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Taunting | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Horse Collar Tackle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Double Team Block | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Forward Pass | 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 | 62 |
The most common penalties committed by Washington during the season have been false start with 12 calls, offensive holding with 11 calls, and defensive pass interference with 8 calls. The offense leads the defense with 27 penalties to 24.
As always, if you have any questions on penalties, please post them in the comment section or hit me up on Twitter @noonefromtampa.