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 (1687), Defensive Holding (1141), Roughing the Passer (610), Illegal Contact (375), Illegal Use of Hands (233), Face Mask (15 Yards) (171), Unsportsmanlike Conduct (126), Personal Foul (61), Horse Collar Tackle (56), Face Mask (53), Taunting (40), Lowering the Head to Initiate Contact (10), Tripping (7), 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
Dallas	148	143	5	1541	1489	52	37	40	-3	100	34	31	3
Washington	148	129	19	1395	1466	-71	40	31	9	153	30	26	4
San Francisco	145	157	-12	1402	1720	-318	42	49	-7	-159	33	36	-3
Indianapolis	151	126	25	1679	1449	230	46	29	17	307	35	35	0
Baltimore	136	159	-23	1740	1738	2	40	39	1	-88	36	31	5
New England	161	134	27	1597	1344	253	42	30	12	209	44	31	13
Las Vegas	139	173	-34	1691	1856	-165	43	50	-7	-222	28	39	-11
Houston	133	149	-16	1348	1659	-311	37	42	-5	-68	28	43	-15
Pittsburgh	132	118	14	1559	1253	306	31	31	0	100	28	25	3
Detroit	128	180	-52	1319	1783	-464	37	43	-6	-263	33	41	-8
Atlanta	166	124	42	1621	1294	327	44	29	15	246	49	41	8
Arizona	150	116	34	1672	1014	658	37	34	3	245	27	30	-3
Kansas City	146	163	-17	1381	1708	-327	46	49	-3	-114	37	42	-5
Tennessee	155	133	22	1517	1345	172	42	39	3	148	36	29	7
Minnesota	162	136	26	1703	1505	198	40	41	-1	113	41	41	0
N.Y. Giants	143	129	14	1490	1473	17	36	38	-2	-42	39	27	12
Buffalo	133	137	-4	1577	1377	200	40	40	0	12	30	27	3
Cleveland	142	131	11	1339	1566	-227	35	46	-11	20	33	40	-7
Green Bay	181	131	50	2158	1255	903	37	29	8	251	46	28	18
Chicago	143	131	12	1423	1479	-56	48	22	26	254	45	30	15
Philadelphia	128	154	-26	1433	1660	-227	35	51	-16	-230	34	42	-8
Miami	118	144	-26	1403	1422	-19	38	41	-3	-224	25	33	-8
Seattle	128	168	-40	1443	1671	-228	35	44	-9	-293	33	43	-10
LA Rams	128	134	-6	1177	1643	-466	36	41	-5	-48	24	37	-13
Carolina	146	123	23	1382	1313	69	34	33	1	109	39	28	11
New Orleans	130	174	-44	1395	1788	-393	28	35	-7	-284	51	56	-5
Denver	159	154	5	1716	1777	-61	36	39	-3	-59	37	34	3
Tampa Bay	142	124	18	1517	1222	295	46	33	13	185	29	35	-6
LA Chargers	144	156	-12	1465	1592	-127	34	38	-4	-90	34	40	-6
Cincinnati	135	132	3	1445	1240	205	42	41	1	38	31	28	3
N.Y. Jets	136	179	-43	1455	1942	-487	35	57	-22	-397	27	38	-11
Jacksonville	136	131	5	1474	1414	60	36	31	5	91	35	24	11
Totals	4572	4572	0	48457	48457	0	1235	1235	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.