Drive Extending Automatic First Down Penalties - 2009 to Present

This page shows all penalties that resulted in an automatic first down, based on the type of penalty, on 3rd and 4th down.

In other words the offense would likely have punted or settled in some form, but the drive was extended by an automatic first down. There are many additional penalties that based on the penalty yardage and distance remaining resulted in a first down. Declined and Offsetting penalties are not shown in this table. Penalties occurring on special teams are not included.

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The table below contains the following penalties: Defensive Pass Interference (1654), Defensive Holding (1128), Roughing the Passer (604), Illegal Contact (365), Illegal Use of Hands (233), Face Mask (15 Yards) (171), Unsportsmanlike Conduct (124), Personal Foul (61), Horse Collar Tackle (56), Face Mask (49), Taunting (37), Lowering the Head to Initiate Contact (10), Tripping (6), and Lowering the Head to Make Forcible Contact (2)

Scroll left and right for additional columns.

Team	Benefitted Offense	Harmed Defense	Net Count	Benefitted Off Yards	Harmed Def Yards	Net Penalty Yards	Off Desperation	Def Desperation	Net Desperation	Net Yardage Mitigated	Off TDs	Def TDs	Net TDs
Las Vegas	138	167	-29	1688	1748	-60	43	49	-6	-183	28	39	-11
Dallas	147	140	7	1532	1458	74	37	40	-3	109	34	31	3
Detroit	123	177	-54	1270	1772	-502	36	43	-7	-283	33	41	-8
Philadelphia	124	152	-28	1375	1614	-239	34	49	-15	-224	34	42	-8
Denver	159	151	8	1716	1742	-26	36	38	-2	-45	37	34	3
Kansas City	145	161	-16	1366	1698	-332	46	49	-3	-106	37	42	-5
Carolina	146	121	25	1382	1283	99	34	31	3	132	39	28	11
Atlanta	164	120	44	1596	1252	344	43	28	15	247	49	41	8
Pittsburgh	130	115	15	1533	1219	314	31	31	0	96	28	25	3
Cincinnati	134	129	5	1428	1234	194	42	41	1	42	31	28	3
Houston	128	146	-18	1286	1607	-321	35	41	-6	-99	28	43	-15
Tennessee	152	133	19	1501	1345	156	42	39	3	130	36	29	7
Tampa Bay	137	124	13	1469	1222	247	43	33	10	144	29	35	-6
Buffalo	129	136	-7	1541	1362	179	40	39	1	14	30	27	3
LA Chargers	141	155	-14	1426	1589	-163	33	38	-5	-102	34	40	-6
Jacksonville	136	128	8	1474	1390	84	36	30	6	116	35	24	11
N.Y. Jets	134	176	-42	1389	1886	-497	34	55	-21	-379	27	38	-11
New England	159	132	27	1592	1324	268	42	30	12	213	44	31	13
Green Bay	178	129	49	2115	1235	880	37	27	10	280	46	28	18
Cleveland	141	130	11	1324	1561	-237	34	46	-12	6	33	40	-7
Baltimore	131	157	-26	1674	1716	-42	38	39	-1	-123	36	31	5
Minnesota	161	132	29	1698	1456	242	40	40	0	141	41	41	0
N.Y. Giants	139	129	10	1447	1473	-26	35	38	-3	-75	39	27	12
Chicago	141	129	12	1403	1453	-50	47	22	25	240	45	30	15
New Orleans	129	172	-43	1380	1755	-375	27	34	-7	-282	51	56	-5
Indianapolis	147	124	23	1604	1436	168	44	28	16	283	35	35	0
Arizona	147	116	31	1657	1014	643	37	34	3	227	27	30	-3
Seattle	128	164	-36	1443	1632	-189	35	43	-8	-253	33	43	-10
Washington	143	126	17	1330	1433	-103	38	30	8	129	30	26	4
LA Rams	126	132	-6	1162	1635	-473	35	40	-5	-45	24	37	-13
San Francisco	145	155	-10	1402	1694	-292	42	49	-7	-144	33	36	-3
Miami	118	142	-24	1403	1368	35	38	40	-2	-206	25	33	-8
Totals	4500	4500	0	47606	47606	0	1214	1214	0	0	1111	1111	0

More Explanation

"Desperation" is 3rd and 10 or more or 4th and 6 or more. A team with an Off Desperation of 24 has gotten 24 automatic first downs when they were in a desperate situation. A team with a Def Desperation of 19 has given up 19 automatic first downs when they had the offense in a desperate situation. "Yardage Mitigated" is the total yardage the offense had remaining to get a first down when the flag was thrown granting a first down.

Off TDs/Def TDs: Shows if the drive resulted in a TD. Why not track total points? Because we can't reasonably know if a team was in FG range, and if so what percentage the penalty helped. We can be reasonably sure the team wouldn't have a TD if not for the penalty.

For Example: Arizona is playing Carolina. Arizona has the ball 3rd and 11 and Carolina is called for Defensive Holding. It's 5 yards and an automatic first down. The drive resulted in a TD. The play is tabulated as follows.

Arizona: +1 Benefitted Offense, +1 Net Count, +5 Benefitted Off Yards, +5 Net Penaly Yards, +1 Off Desperation, +1 Net Desperation, +11 Net Yardage Mitigated, +1 Off TD, +1 Net TD.

Carolina: +1 Harmed Defense, -1 Net Count, +5 Harmed Def Yards, -5 Net Penaly Yards, +1 Def Desperation, -1 Net Desperation, -11 Net Yardage Mitigated, +1 Def TD, -1 Net TD.

Issues with the Data: While by and large these penalties extend drives, it is possible that some of these drives would not have ended. The offense might accept a 15 yard penalty on a play where they otherwise only gained 6, but got the first down. This table does not account for that. Also if the penalty occurred on 3rd down the team may have gone for it on 4th and extended the drive that way.