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
Detroit	20	1.700	0.450	0.400	0.750	0.100	0.350	0.300	12.750	15.550
Atlanta	17	1.706	0.588	0.706	0.412	0.000	0.412	0.235	15.941	18.118
Cleveland	18	1.222	0.278	0.389	0.500	0.056	0.444	0.333	9.944	14.333
Tampa Bay	19	1.474	0.737	0.421	0.211	0.000	0.158	0.000	13.000	13.316
New Orleans	17	1.824	0.647	0.529	0.647	0.000	0.412	0.118	15.529	22.118
San Francisco	20	1.350	0.200	0.700	0.450	0.000	0.150	0.050	10.950	18.300
Houston	19	1.368	0.368	0.368	0.632	0.000	0.316	0.105	9.000	15.421
Arizona	17	1.588	0.588	0.471	0.529	0.000	0.294	0.000	14.235	17.765
Las Vegas	17	1.118	0.294	0.176	0.647	0.000	0.529	0.176	9.412	11.353
Denver	17	1.176	0.412	0.294	0.471	0.000	0.353	0.176	9.824	11.765
LA Chargers	17	1.353	0.412	0.294	0.588	0.059	0.412	0.294	13.471	17.235
Miami	18	1.222	0.278	0.333	0.500	0.111	0.278	0.278	10.500	11.444
LA Rams	18	1.500	0.500	0.500	0.333	0.167	0.222	0.222	13.000	12.056
N.Y. Giants	17	1.294	0.294	0.412	0.588	0.000	0.471	0.118	12.235	13.176
Green Bay	19	1.368	0.368	0.474	0.526	0.000	0.316	0.211	10.632	13.789
Baltimore	19	1.789	0.526	0.632	0.579	0.053	0.211	0.211	14.895	21.842
Seattle	17	1.706	0.588	0.353	0.706	0.059	0.412	0.235	14.235	20.000
Kansas City	21	1.143	0.286	0.286	0.571	0.000	0.238	0.095	9.476	12.286
N.Y. Jets	17	1.706	0.647	0.412	0.588	0.000	0.529	0.412	16.176	13.706
Dallas	18	1.556	0.722	0.500	0.222	0.111	0.111	0.111	13.444	15.944
Carolina	17	1.059	0.412	0.294	0.353	0.000	0.235	0.118	9.529	12.706
Tennessee	17	2.235	0.588	0.647	0.824	0.176	0.412	0.176	19.059	23.765
New England	17	1.000	0.353	0.294	0.294	0.000	0.294	0.000	7.176	7.765
Pittsburgh	18	1.611	0.444	0.500	0.500	0.111	0.278	0.167	13.000	14.778
Philadelphia	18	1.611	0.500	0.389	0.611	0.056	0.556	0.167	15.278	19.944
Indianapolis	17	1.118	0.294	0.471	0.353	0.000	0.235	0.059	9.000	9.000
Washington	17	1.353	0.412	0.353	0.412	0.118	0.294	0.176	10.647	13.824
Chicago	17	1.235	0.353	0.294	0.529	0.059	0.294	0.059	11.118	16.765
Buffalo	19	1.579	0.474	0.368	0.579	0.105	0.368	0.211	12.789	14.000
Minnesota	17	0.765	0.294	0.118	0.294	0.059	0.294	0.059	7.294	8.882
Cincinnati	17	1.176	0.412	0.529	0.235	0.000	0.118	0.118	10.824	13.529
Jacksonville	17	0.588	0.294	0.118	0.118	0.059	0.000	0.000	4.941	7.059