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 (308), Defensive Holding (165), Roughing the Passer (154), Face Mask (15 Yards) (53), Illegal Use of Hands (52), Illegal Contact (28), Taunting (26), Horse Collar Tackle (15), Unsportsmanlike Conduct (13), and Tripping (2)

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
Tampa Bay	19	1.842	1.000	0.421	0.316	0.105	0.158	0.158	16.526	23.789
Jacksonville	17	1.118	0.412	0.294	0.412	0.000	0.176	0.000	7.529	12.000
Buffalo	19	2.000	0.474	0.632	0.684	0.211	0.579	0.211	16.105	19.684
Carolina	17	1.353	0.706	0.412	0.235	0.000	0.176	0.000	13.176	16.529
Philadelphia	18	1.556	0.667	0.389	0.500	0.000	0.111	0.056	11.889	14.444
Minnesota	17	1.882	0.882	0.412	0.353	0.235	0.294	0.118	16.235	22.529
Tennessee	18	1.667	0.389	0.778	0.500	0.000	0.333	0.056	13.556	22.111
San Francisco	20	1.950	0.650	0.500	0.800	0.000	0.500	0.250	17.300	28.350
Seattle	17	1.647	0.471	0.294	0.824	0.059	0.471	0.176	12.647	16.588
LA Chargers	17	2.118	0.941	0.588	0.412	0.118	0.294	0.235	17.647	25.765
Washington	17	1.353	0.353	0.294	0.529	0.176	0.294	0.118	10.118	18.294
Denver	17	1.000	0.235	0.235	0.529	0.000	0.294	0.118	7.471	11.353
New Orleans	17	1.412	0.353	0.588	0.353	0.118	0.294	0.176	11.412	12.118
Baltimore	17	1.412	0.529	0.353	0.412	0.118	0.118	0.176	10.471	14.882
N.Y. Giants	17	0.824	0.176	0.294	0.353	0.000	0.176	0.000	5.941	7.706
New England	18	1.056	0.444	0.389	0.222	0.000	0.167	0.056	10.056	15.222
Cincinnati	21	1.238	0.286	0.381	0.524	0.048	0.333	0.238	10.571	14.000
Cleveland	17	1.588	0.412	0.529	0.529	0.118	0.235	0.176	13.118	24.588
Dallas	18	1.500	0.556	0.278	0.611	0.056	0.500	0.167	12.333	16.500
Atlanta	17	1.294	0.471	0.294	0.471	0.059	0.294	0.059	10.294	15.353
Detroit	17	1.353	0.588	0.000	0.706	0.059	0.294	0.176	12.176	16.235
Houston	17	1.353	0.471	0.471	0.353	0.059	0.294	0.235	12.882	16.176
Indianapolis	17	0.882	0.294	0.294	0.294	0.000	0.235	0.059	7.118	13.059
Kansas City	20	1.450	0.300	0.450	0.550	0.150	0.300	0.250	12.350	13.600
N.Y. Jets	17	1.765	0.647	0.412	0.647	0.059	0.412	0.294	14.235	19.000
Las Vegas	18	1.722	0.389	0.833	0.444	0.056	0.333	0.167	15.500	19.167
Green Bay	18	1.167	0.389	0.389	0.389	0.000	0.278	0.056	9.778	16.111
Chicago	17	1.471	0.706	0.118	0.529	0.118	0.294	0.059	11.353	18.824
Arizona	18	1.556	0.556	0.556	0.444	0.000	0.389	0.111	12.889	17.000
LA Rams	21	0.905	0.333	0.333	0.238	0.000	0.143	0.048	7.667	10.857
Miami	17	1.353	0.588	0.353	0.412	0.000	0.176	0.059	12.118	12.941
Pittsburgh	18	1.000	0.278	0.556	0.111	0.056	0.056	0.056	8.889	11.111