Hold On – Week 18, 2022
January 10, 2023
By Noonefromtampa
Well, another season in the books and much more to look forward to in this offseason. This week was the first time I saw a penalty called on player for interfering with the Opponent’s training staff. Yes, Quay Walker, I’m talking about you getting ejected from a game again.
The Washington Commanders had one of their least mistake-filled games in recent memory. Too bad it wasn’t in the game where the playoffs were on the line. Rachad Wildgoose wins the team’s golden handkerchief award for finishing with 7 penalties for a whopping 113 yards for the year.
Through week 18 of completed games, 3,047 penalties have been enforced for 25,127 yards in 271 games yielding an average of 5.62 penalties per team per game and 46.34 yards lost per team per game. Washington was called for 92 penalties across 17 games totaling 806 yards lost for an average of 5.41 penalties per game and 47.41 yards lost per game. The team’s average number of penalty calls is right below the league average while average yards lost is slightly over, by 1.07 yards a game.
The most penalized teams in the league are:
- Arizona – 118 penalties for 916 yards
- Denver – 113 penalties for 971 yards
- Las Vegas – 113 penalties for 932 yards
- Tennessee – 111 penalties for 957 yards
- Miami – 111 penalties for 881 yards
The top 5 penalty calls across the league are:
- Offensive Holding, 597 times, 5,735 yards
- False Start, 580 times, 2,853 yards
- Defensive Pass Interference, 225 times, 3,871 yards
- Defensive Holding, 211 times, 1,011 yards
- Delay of Game, 158 times, 786 yards
Washington ended up tied for second (with Baltimore and Miami) in the league the most defensive pass interference penalties (11 calls) while Kansas City led the league with 14 calls. Washington and New Orleans ended tied for first in illegal use of hands (5 calls).
Game Summary
Dallas – 6 accepted penalties (0 declined) for 74 yards, gave up 3 first down via penalty
Washington – 2 accepted penalties (1 declined) for 10 yards, gave up 0 first downs via penalty
This is the summary of penalties committed by each team:
By Penalty:
| Penalty | Dallas | Washington | Grand Total |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| False Start | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Offensive Holding | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 6 | 2 | 8 |
By Unit:
| Team | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| Dallas | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Washington | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Grand Total | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
By Player:
| Against | Player | Penalty | Accepted | Declined |
| Dallas | T. Diggs | Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 |
| S. Williams | Unnecessary Roughness | 1 | 0 | |
| T. Mullen | Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 0 | |
| D. Schultz | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 | |
| T. Smith | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 | |
| T. Coyle | Offensive Holding | 1 | 0 | |
| Washington | W. Schweitzer | False Start | 1 | 0 |
| C. Paul | Ineligible Downfield Pass | 1 | 0 | |
| T. Turner | Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 1 |
Game Impactors
Dallas started out putting themselves into a hole by getting called for holding on the game’s kickoff. This led directly to the first touchdown of the game a pass from Sam Howell to Terry McLaurin after Bryan Anger fumbled the snap.
Sam Williams got called for unnecessary roughness in fourth quarter, which contributed to Joey Slye hitting a 22-yard field goal for the final Washington points of the game.
Also, there were two instances of defensive pass interference that were not called committed against McLaurin and Jahan Dotson. That is a continuing trend.
Yearly Totals
By Player:
| Player | Accepted | Declined | Offsetting | Reversed |
| R. Wildgoose | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Offense | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| B. St-Juste | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Leno | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Holmes | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| M. Sweat | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| W. Jackson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Turner | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Wentz | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Norwell | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Hudson | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Fuller | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Cosmi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Rogers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Thomas | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defense | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Dotson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| N. Martin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Lucas | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Ridgeway | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Sims | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| W. Schweitzer | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| P. Butler | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Larsen | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Paul | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Reaves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. McLaurin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Smith-Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Charles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. McCain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Curl | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Forrest | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Turner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Samuel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Cheeseman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Obada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Payne | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Holcomb | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| J. Allen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
By Penalty:
| Penalty | Defense | Offense | ST | Grand Total |
| Offensive Holding | 0 | 10 | 8 | 18 |
| False Start | 0 | 16 | 1 | 17 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Delay of Game | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Illegal Use of Hands | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Intentional Grounding | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Defensive Offside | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Illegal Contact | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Defensive Holding | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Face Mask | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Defensive Too Many Men on Field | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Illegal Formation | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Double-Team Block | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Block Above the Waist | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Touch Kick | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Illegal Motion | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Roughing the Passer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 29 | 45 | 18 | 92 |
Year Breakdown by Player:
| Player/Penalty | Penalty Count | Yards Lost |
| A. Norwell | 4 | 30 |
| False Start | 1 | 5 |
| Illegal Use of Hands | 1 | 5 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 20 |
| A. Rogers | 3 | 25 |
| Illegal Double-Team Block | 1 | 8 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 17 |
| B. McCain | 1 | 12 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 1 | 12 |
| B. St-Juste | 5 | 58 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 2 | 44 |
| Illegal Contact | 1 | 5 |
| Illegal Use of Hands | 2 | 9 |
| C. Cheeseman | 1 | 5 |
| False Start | 1 | 5 |
| C. Holmes | 4 | 32 |
| Face Mask | 1 | 5 |
| Offensive Holding | 3 | 27 |
| C. Leno | 5 | 25 |
| False Start | 3 | 13 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 12 |
| C. Lucas | 3 | 20 |
| False Start | 2 | 10 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 10 |
| C. Paul | 1 | 5 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 1 | 5 |
| C. Samuel | 1 | 10 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 1 | 10 |
| C. Sims | 1 | 5 |
| False Start | 1 | 5 |
| C. Turner | 1 | 10 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 10 |
| C. Wentz | 4 | 43 |
| Delay of Game | 1 | 5 |
| Intentional Grounding | 3 | 38 |
| D. Forrest | 1 | 15 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 1 | 15 |
| Defense | 2 | 8 |
| Defensive Too Many Men on Field | 2 | 8 |
| E. Obada | 1 | 15 |
| Roughing the Passer | 1 | 15 |
| J. Allen | 1 | 5 |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 5 |
| J. Dotson | 3 | 25 |
| False Start | 1 | 5 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 2 | 20 |
| J. Reaves | 1 | 10 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 10 |
| J. Ridgeway | 2 | 8 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 2 | 8 |
| J. Smith-Williams | 1 | 14 |
| Face Mask | 1 | 14 |
| K. Curl | 1 | 5 |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 5 |
| K. Fuller | 3 | 44 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 2 | 39 |
| Illegal Contact | 1 | 5 |
| K. Hudson | 3 | 12 |
| Defensive Offside | 1 | 4 |
| Illegal Touch Kick | 1 | 5 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 3 |
| L. Thomas | 3 | 20 |
| False Start | 1 | 5 |
| Illegal Block Above the Waist | 1 | 10 |
| Illegal Motion | 1 | 5 |
| M. Sweat | 4 | 18 |
| Defensive Offside | 2 | 8 |
| Illegal Use of Hands | 1 | 5 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 1 | 5 |
| N. Martin | 3 | 25 |
| False Start | 1 | 5 |
| Illegal Use of Hands | 1 | 10 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 10 |
| Offense | 7 | 33 |
| Delay of Game | 6 | 30 |
| Illegal Formation | 1 | 3 |
| P. Butler | 2 | 27 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 2 | 27 |
| R. Wildgoose | 7 | 113 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 4 | 79 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 19 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 1 | 15 |
| S. Charles | 1 | 10 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 10 |
| S. Cosmi | 3 | 15 |
| False Start | 3 | 15 |
| T. McLaurin | 1 | 5 |
| Illegal Formation | 1 | 5 |
| T. Turner | 3 | 19 |
| False Start | 2 | 9 |
| Offensive Holding | 1 | 10 |
| W.Jackson | 4 | 75 |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 5 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 2 | 65 |
| Illegal Contact | 1 | 5 |
| W.Schweitzer | 1 | 5 |
| False Start | 1 | 5 |
| Grand Total | 92 | 806 |
The comparison of penalties across the years 2019-2022 by week.
Year to Year Comparison:
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||||
| Week | Count | Yards | Count | Yards | Count | Yards | Count | Yards |
| 1 | 12 | 96 | 7 | 55 | 8 | 57 | 6 | 63 |
| 2 | 6 | 44 | 6 | 42 | 9 | 80 | 2 | 17 |
| 3 | 9 | 61 | 4 | 40 | 5 | 38 | 4 | 48 |
| 4 | 12 | 58 | 2 | 20 | 6 | 85 | 11 | 136 |
| 5 | 6 | 72 | 3 | 40 | 5 | 37 | 9 | 71 |
| 6 | 6 | 56 | 8 | 50 | 6 | 44 | 7 | 36 |
| 7 | 7 | 47 | 4 | 30 | 4 | 50 | 7 | 54 |
| 8 | 4 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 29 | 3 | 52 |
| 9 | 3 | 15 | 6 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 26 |
| 10 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 58 | 3 | 33 | 5 | 58 |
| 11 | 11 | 66 | 6 | 49 | 8 | 69 | 5 | 36 |
| 12 | 8 | 63 | 5 | 53 | 4 | 38 | 4 | 28 |
| 13 | 6 | 65 | 9 | 62 | 6 | 47 | 7 | 56 |
| 14 | 3 | 25 | 5 | 30 | 7 | 65 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | 5 | 60 | 6 | 41 | 2 | 25 | 6 | 40 |
| 16 | 6 | 51 | 5 | 26 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 51 |
| 17 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 56 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 24 |
| 18 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3 | 29 | 2 | 10 |
Sources: nfl.com, nflpenalties.com
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