Automatic First Downs

This page shows all penalties that resulted in an automatic first down based on the type of penalty. There are many additional penalties that based on the penalty yardage and distance remaining resulted in a first down.

"3rd & Long" is 3rd down and 6 or more yards. "Desperation" is 3rd and 10 or more or 4th and 6 or more. "Yardage Mitigated" is the total yardage the team had left to get a first down when the flag was thrown granting a gratis first down. Remember: There are more first down plays than 2nd down plays, more 2nd down plays than 3rd, and so on.

Beneficiary means the team benefitted from the penalty. Declined and Offsetting penalties are not shown in this table. Penalties occurring on special teams are not included.

The table below contains the following penalties: Defensive Pass Interference (278), Defensive Holding (183), Roughing the Passer (99), Illegal Contact (90), Face Mask (67), Illegal Use of Hands (46), Horse Collar Tackle (12), Unsportsmanlike Conduct (9), Taunting (5), Lowering the Head to Make Forcible Contact (4), and Tripping (1)

Scroll left and right for additional columns.

Team	Games	Total	1st Down	2nd Down	3rd Down	4th Down	3rd & Long	Desperation	Yardage Mitigated	Penalty Yards
Kansas City	21	1.476	0.476	0.571	0.381	0.048	0.333	0.190	14.857	15.524
Carolina	17	1.765	0.412	0.471	0.824	0.000	0.647	0.176	14.706	14.706
Cincinnati	17	1.529	0.471	0.588	0.471	0.000	0.176	0.059	11.882	17.118
Minnesota	17	1.941	0.706	0.471	0.706	0.059	0.471	0.353	18.176	18.941
Tennessee	17	1.706	0.412	0.471	0.765	0.059	0.353	0.235	14.118	15.294
Pittsburgh	18	1.056	0.278	0.444	0.333	0.000	0.222	0.056	8.222	11.222
Baltimore	19	1.368	0.263	0.421	0.579	0.105	0.368	0.211	10.632	13.842
Washington	17	1.588	0.412	0.588	0.529	0.059	0.353	0.176	14.118	16.118
Denver	17	1.588	0.412	0.294	0.765	0.059	0.353	0.235	12.765	21.588
Las Vegas	17	1.059	0.118	0.471	0.412	0.000	0.353	0.176	9.882	12.588
Miami	18	0.944	0.389	0.278	0.278	0.000	0.222	0.111	7.056	9.389
LA Chargers	17	1.353	0.412	0.353	0.412	0.176	0.176	0.059	9.176	11.588
Seattle	17	1.471	0.824	0.235	0.294	0.118	0.235	0.176	13.706	16.824
Dallas	18	2.222	0.611	0.611	0.944	0.056	0.778	0.444	20.389	26.056
Green Bay	19	1.368	0.789	0.211	0.368	0.000	0.316	0.105	13.053	21.789
Atlanta	17	1.235	0.235	0.471	0.471	0.000	0.235	0.000	8.529	11.941
Buffalo	19	1.105	0.474	0.263	0.316	0.000	0.211	0.105	10.000	11.421
Detroit	20	1.100	0.400	0.450	0.250	0.000	0.200	0.100	10.400	13.200
Jacksonville	17	2.059	0.412	0.529	1.118	0.000	0.588	0.176	16.118	25.294
Arizona	17	1.529	0.471	0.412	0.412	0.176	0.235	0.176	12.176	15.059
San Francisco	20	1.350	0.550	0.300	0.450	0.050	0.250	0.150	10.850	10.650
N.Y. Jets	17	1.176	0.235	0.353	0.471	0.118	0.235	0.059	10.000	13.765
New England	17	0.765	0.235	0.118	0.353	0.000	0.235	0.118	5.765	5.412
New Orleans	17	1.235	0.353	0.412	0.471	0.000	0.235	0.118	9.765	10.353
N.Y. Giants	17	0.941	0.235	0.471	0.176	0.059	0.059	0.059	7.294	8.706
Cleveland	18	1.500	0.556	0.278	0.556	0.111	0.278	0.167	12.722	16.722
Tampa Bay	19	1.579	0.421	0.421	0.579	0.158	0.421	0.211	14.000	16.632
Chicago	17	0.765	0.118	0.235	0.412	0.000	0.294	0.176	6.294	5.824
LA Rams	18	1.444	0.500	0.389	0.556	0.000	0.389	0.278	13.056	19.333
Houston	19	1.526	0.684	0.474	0.316	0.000	0.211	0.158	13.737	15.842
Philadelphia	18	1.444	0.556	0.500	0.333	0.056	0.111	0.056	11.778	11.778
Indianapolis	17	1.412	0.471	0.529	0.412	0.000	0.412	0.118	13.235	17.529