Hold On – Week 13
December 9, 2020
By Noonefromtampa
A three-game winning streak, a much-needed victory to keep paces with the Giants, and the first win over a 10 win or more team in almost 13 years: did Christmas come early this year?
From a penalty standpoint, this was the worst game so far this season, with highs in both penalties called and accepted. The offense has two false starts and one delay of game, continuing the season long trend of basic execution errors.
The penalties in this game were as follows:
| Team | Called | Accepted | Yards | First Downs |
| Washington | 10 | 9 | 62 | 2 |
| Opponent | 9 | 6 | 45 | 3 |
The following is a breakdown of accepted calls in this game:
| Row Labels | Opponent | Washington | Grand Total |
| Defensive Holding | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Delay of Game | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| False Start | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Illegal Block Above the Waist | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Illegal Use of Hands | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Offensive Holding | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Roughing the Kicker | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 6 | 9 | 15 |
If I had to pick one key penalty in the game, it was the defensive holding on Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt on 4th down that enabled Washington to score a touchdown on the next play, making the score 14-10, which started the second half comeback.
The season breakdowns through week 13 are as follows:
| Washington | Opponent | |||||
| Week | Accepted | Declined | Offset | Accepted | Declined | Offset |
| 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
Washington holds a 9 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 |
| 4 | 20 | 30 | 50 |
| 5 | 40 | 60 | 100 |
| 6 | 50 | 30 | 80 |
| 7 | 30 | 50 | 80 |
| 9 | 45 | 40 | 85 |
| 10 | 58 | 55 | 113 |
| 11 | 49 | 31 | 80 |
| 12 | 53 | 45 | 98 |
| 13 | 62 | 45 | 107 |
| Total Yards | 544 | 553 | 1097 |
Next up is a breakdown of the accepted penalties 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 |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Total | 31 | 27 | 9 | 30 | 31 | 6 |
The top penalties committed by Washington are offensive holding calls, false starts, delay of game, neutral zone infractions and defensive offsides.
| Penalty | Accepted | Declined | Grand Total |
| Clipping | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive Holding | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Defensive Offside | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Delay of Game | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Disqualification | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Encroachment | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Facemask | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| False Start | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Horse Collar Tackle | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Block Above the Waist | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Illegal Double-Team Block | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Motion | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Touch Kick | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illegal Use of Hands | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Lowering the Head to Initiate Contact | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Offensive Holding | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Offensive Offside | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Roughing the Passer | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Taunting | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Too Many Men on Field | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 3 | 0 | 3 |
The penalties committed by player:
| Player | Accepted | Declined | Grand Total |
| B. Scherff | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| C. Roullier | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| C. Sims | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| C. Young | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| D. Everett | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| D. Inman | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| D. Johnson | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| D. Payne | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| D. Sharpe | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Defense | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| G. Christian | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Allen | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Bostic | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J. McKissic | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Moreland | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Smith-Williams | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| K. Allen | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Fuller | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| K. Hudson | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| K. Pierre-Louis | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| L. Collins | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| L. Thomas | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| M. Ioannidis | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| M. Moses | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| M. Sweat | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Offense | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| R. Anderson | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| R. Darby | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| R. Kerrigan | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| T. Apke | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| T. Hemingway | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| T. McLaurin | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| T. Settle | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| W. Martin | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grand Total | 67 | 7 | 74 |
Through week 13, the top three most penalized players are Montez Sweat, with 7 penalty calls, all accepted, the offense with 6 calls (delay of game), all accepted, and Morgan Moses with 5 calls, 4 accepted.
As always, you can tweet penalty questions you would like see answered to me @noonefromtampa.
Statistics source: nflpenalties.com, nfl.com