Hold On – Week 3
September 30, 2020
By Noonefromtampa
The Washington Football Team was called for five penalties this week, with four accepted, one on defense and three on offense. This was a decrease of two calls over weeks one and two. The penalty trend is better than 2019, showing more disciplined play this year by WFT players.
The most controversial call in the game was an offensive pass interference call against Terry McLaurin. The official saw it as a push off, but the replay showed it was more a fight for hand position, which Fox color analyst Chris Spielman pointed out. The worst penalty was the neutral zone infraction by Ryan Kerrigan which gave the Browns a first down on a fourth and four and led to the field goal that was the final nail in the Team’s coffin.
So, in week three, WFT was penalized four times for 40 yards and the Browns 6 times for 50 yards.
| Washington | Opponent | |||||
| Week | Accepted | Declined | Offset | Accepted | Declined | Offset |
| 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
WFT holds a 30-yard edge over their opponents in total penalty yards.
| Week | Washington | Opponent | Total Yards |
| 1 | 55 | 20 | 75 |
| 2 | 42 | 97 | 139 |
| 3 | 40 | 50 | 90 |
| Total Yards | 137 | 167 | 304 |
Next up is a breakdown of the penalties accepted by unit:
| Washington | Opponent | |||||
| Week | Defense | Offense | Spec Tms | Defense | Offense | Spec Tms |
| 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 8 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 1 |
The WFT defense has reduced the penalties they commit while the penalties against offense have increased.
The biggest issue for the Team has been neutral zone infractions and offensive holding calls.
| Row Labels | Accepted | Declined | Offset | Total |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Offside | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Delay of Game | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Block Above the Waist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Touch Kick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lowering the Head to Initiate Contact | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Offensive Holding | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| False Start | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Taunting | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 17 | 2 | 0 | 19 |
Lastly, below is everyone’s favorite table: who is guilty of committing the infractions.
| Player | Accepted | Declined | Total |
| C.Young | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| D.Johnson | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| L.Collins | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| M.Ioannidis | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| M.Sweat | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Offense | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| T.Apke | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C.Sims | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| K.Hudson | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| G.Christian | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| M.Moses | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| D.Payne | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| D.Inman | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C.Roullier | 1 | 1 | |
| W.Martin | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| T.McLaurin | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| R.Kerrigan | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 17 | 2 | 19 |
As of week 3, Landon Collins and Cam Sims lead the Team in total calls, with both of Collins call being accepted.
As always, you can tweet penalty questions you would like see answered to me @noonefromtampa.
Statistics source: nflpenalties.com, nfl.com