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), 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	1.526	0.842	0.368	0.263	0.053	0.105	0.053	12.895	19.053
Jacksonville	17	1.000	0.353	0.235	0.412	0.000	0.176	0.000	6.824	10.941
Buffalo	19	1.842	0.474	0.526	0.684	0.158	0.579	0.211	15.263	17.895
Carolina	17	1.294	0.706	0.353	0.235	0.000	0.176	0.000	12.118	15.647
Philadelphia	18	1.389	0.556	0.389	0.444	0.000	0.111	0.056	10.667	12.778
Minnesota	17	1.647	0.824	0.353	0.353	0.118	0.294	0.118	14.824	19.000
Tennessee	18	1.667	0.389	0.778	0.500	0.000	0.333	0.056	13.556	22.111
San Francisco	20	1.850	0.600	0.500	0.750	0.000	0.450	0.200	15.900	27.100
Seattle	17	1.529	0.412	0.235	0.824	0.059	0.471	0.176	11.765	14.824
LA Chargers	17	2.000	0.882	0.529	0.412	0.118	0.294	0.235	16.176	24.000
Washington	17	1.235	0.294	0.294	0.529	0.118	0.294	0.118	9.471	16.529
Denver	17	1.000	0.235	0.235	0.529	0.000	0.294	0.118	7.471	11.353
New Orleans	17	1.294	0.353	0.471	0.353	0.118	0.294	0.176	10.824	11.000
Baltimore	17	1.353	0.471	0.353	0.412	0.118	0.118	0.176	9.882	14.000
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	0.944	0.389	0.333	0.222	0.000	0.167	0.056	9.111	14.167
Cincinnati	21	1.048	0.238	0.333	0.429	0.048	0.238	0.190	8.571	11.429
Cleveland	17	1.529	0.412	0.529	0.471	0.118	0.176	0.118	12.529	23.706
Dallas	18	1.389	0.500	0.278	0.611	0.000	0.500	0.167	11.722	14.833
Atlanta	17	1.294	0.471	0.294	0.471	0.059	0.294	0.059	10.294	15.353
Detroit	17	1.294	0.588	0.000	0.647	0.059	0.235	0.118	11.000	15.353
Houston	17	1.294	0.471	0.471	0.294	0.059	0.235	0.176	12.000	15.294
Indianapolis	17	0.882	0.294	0.294	0.294	0.000	0.235	0.059	7.118	13.059
Kansas City	20	1.350	0.300	0.350	0.550	0.150	0.300	0.250	11.300	12.450
N.Y. Jets	17	1.706	0.647	0.412	0.588	0.059	0.353	0.294	13.824	18.706
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	1.059	0.529	0.059	0.412	0.059	0.235	0.059	8.471	12.882
Arizona	18	1.500	0.556	0.556	0.389	0.000	0.333	0.056	12.222	16.167
LA Rams	21	0.857	0.286	0.333	0.238	0.000	0.143	0.048	7.190	10.381
Miami	17	1.353	0.588	0.353	0.412	0.000	0.176	0.059	12.118	12.941
Pittsburgh	18	0.944	0.278	0.500	0.111	0.056	0.056	0.056	8.056	10.278