ALL HAIL BLEERGH.
In tribute to Bleergh (the God of Penalties), here’s the week fourteens’s best and worst penalties. Here’s a random breakdown of this weeks penalties. I may or may not try to find the tape for these, nor am I making any judgement call on the individual penalties. I’m sure that there are plays that should have been called and were not, and other plays where the penalty wasn’t needed, depending on your fandom. This is mainly me looking a some numbers and publishing my findings, so let me know if there’s something you would like to see added or removed to the list.
Here are the bestest (in the eyes of Bleergh) penalties of the week:
| Team | Penalty | Result |
| PHI | OFFENSIVE HOLDING | TD nullified |
| TEN | OFFENSIVE HOLDING | TD nullified |
| DEN | ILLEGAL BLOCK ABOVE THE WAIST | TD nullified |
| CAR | OFFENSIVE HOLDING | TD nullified |
| MIA | DEFENSIVE HOLDING | Pick-six reversed |
| CIN | DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | Pickerception reversed |
These plays have multiple flags. This pleases Bleergh. This new features a double penalty (offsetting) on a scoring play.
| Offence | Defence | Description |
| BUF | BAL | (7:16) 17-J.ALLEN PASS INCOMPLETE SHORT RIGHT [36-C.CLARK]. THROWN AWAY; PRESSURE ON QB: L.FORT. PENALTY ON BUF, ILLEGAL SHIFT, OFFSETTING, ENFORCED AT BAL 3 – NO PLAY. PENALTY ON BAL-44-M.HUMPHREY, DEFENSIVE HOLDING, OFFSETTING. |
| BAL | BUF | (:23) (SHOTGUN) 8-L.JACKSON LEFT TACKLE PUSHED OB AT BUF 13 FOR 8 YARDS (23-M.HYDE). PENALTY ON BUF-98-S.LOTULELEI, DEFENSIVE HOLDING, 5 YARDS, ENFORCED AT BUF 13. PENALTY ON BUF-55-J.HUGHES, UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT, 4 YARDS, ENFORCED BETWEEN DOWNS. |
| MIN | DET | (15:00) (SHOTGUN) 8-K.COUSINS PASS SHORT LEFT TO 81-O.JOHNSON TO MIN 42 FOR 8 YARDS (51-J.TAVAI). PENALTY ON DET-52-C.JONES, LOWERING THE HEAD TO INITIATE CONTACT, OFFSETTING, ENFORCED AT MIN 34 – NO PLAY. PENALTY ON MIN-75-B.O’NEILL, OFFENSIVE HOLDING, OFFSETTING. |
Here are the worst (in the eyes of Bleergh) penalties of the week.
| Team | Penalty | Result |
| SEA | NEUTRAL ZONE INFRACTION | 4 yards |
| TEN | DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | 1 yard |
| ARI | FACE MASK (15 YARDS) | 1 yard |
| HOU | DEFENSIVE HOLDING | 4 yards |
| BAL | NEUTRAL ZONE INFRACTION | 1 yard |
| BAL | UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS | 2 yards |
| ATL | ILLEGAL BAT | 4 yards |
| CAR | DEFENSIVE OFFSIDE | 4 yards |
| SF | UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS | 1 yard |
| NYG | OFFENSIVE HOLDING | 4 yards |
Here are the Best (in the eyes of Bleergh) penalties of the week. Crabby Winston with an Intentional grounding breaking up the DPI dominance
| Team | Penalty | Result |
| NYJ | DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | 38 yards |
| TB | INTENTIONAL GROUNDING | 16 yards |
| BAL | DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | 26 yards |
| ATL | DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | 34 yards |
| TB | DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | 45 yards |
| ARI | DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | 24 yards |
| KC | DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | 31 yards |
And here’s the total number of penalties per team this weekend.
| Team | Penalties against | Penalties declined | Penalty yards | Ave yards per penalty | YTD penalties | YTD penalty yards | YTD Ave yards per penalty | Challenges | Challenges Reversed |
| ARIZONA | 7 | 0 | 75 | 10.71 | 112 | 783 | 6.99 | 0 | 0 |
| ATLANTA | 7 | 1 | 58 | 9.67 | 104 | 711 | 6.84 | 1 | 0 |
| BALTIMORE | 10 | 1 | 99 | 11.00 | 103 | 731 | 7.10 | 0 | 0 |
| BUFFALO | 6 | 1 | 45 | 9.00 | 111 | 752 | 6.77 | 0 | 0 |
| CAROLINA | 7 | 0 | 44 | 6.29 | 93 | 623 | 6.70 | 1 | 1 |
| CHICAGO | 4 | 0 | 30 | 7.50 | 106 | 717 | 6.76 | 0 | 0 |
| CINCINNATI | 9 | 1 | 99 | 12.38 | 84 | 619 | 7.37 | 2 | 1 |
| CLEVELAND | 7 | 1 | 30 | 5.00 | 126 | 868 | 6.89 | 1 | 0 |
| DALLAS | 6 | 0 | 52 | 8.67 | 103 | 856 | 8.31 | 1 | 1 |
| DENVER | 7 | 0 | 50 | 7.14 | 107 | 729 | 6.81 | 0 | 0 |
| DETROIT | 5 | 0 | 28 | 5.60 | 122 | 788 | 6.46 | 0 | 0 |
| GREEN BAY | 5 | 0 | 34 | 6.80 | 93 | 599 | 6.44 | 0 | 0 |
| HOUSTON | 9 | 0 | 44 | 4.89 | 113 | 770 | 6.81 | 0 | 0 |
| INDIANAPOLIS | 4 | 1 | 35 | 11.67 | 86 | 575 | 6.69 | 0 | 0 |
| JACKSONVILLE | 10 | 0 | 101 | 10.10 | 131 | 995 | 7.60 | 0 | 0 |
| KANSAS CITY | 13 | 5 | 99 | 12.38 | 107 | 812 | 7.59 | 0 | 0 |
| LOS ANGELES RAMS | 4 | 1 | 20 | 6.67 | 109 | 702 | 6.44 | 0 | 0 |
| LOS ANGELES CHARGERS | 6 | 0 | 65 | 10.83 | 101 | 729 | 7.22 | 0 | 0 |
| MIAMI | 7 | 2 | 48 | 9.60 | 97 | 617 | 6.36 | 0 | 0 |
| MINNESOTA | 9 | 1 | 55 | 6.88 | 105 | 753 | 7.17 | 1 | 1 |
| NEW ENGLAND | 5 | 0 | 25 | 5.00 | 89 | 714 | 8.02 | 2 | 1 |
| NEW ORLEANS | 6 | 1 | 50 | 10.00 | 121 | 851 | 7.03 | 0 | 0 |
| NEW YORK GIANTS | 8 | 1 | 54 | 7.71 | 91 | 646 | 7.10 | 0 | 0 |
| NEW YORK JETS | 5 | 0 | 88 | 17.60 | 114 | 968 | 8.49 | 0 | 0 |
| OAKLAND | 5 | 2 | 20 | 6.67 | 118 | 858 | 7.27 | 0 | 0 |
| PHILADELPHIA | 4 | 0 | 30 | 7.50 | 92 | 642 | 6.98 | 1 | 0 |
| PITTSBURGH | 4 | 0 | 20 | 5.00 | 106 | 767 | 7.24 | 0 | 0 |
| SAN FRANCISCO | 10 | 0 | 67 | 6.70 | 93 | 779 | 8.38 | 0 | 0 |
| SEATTLE | 8 | 0 | 64 | 8.00 | 102 | 735 | 7.21 | 0 | 0 |
| TAMPA BAY | 10 | 4 | 104 | 17.33 | 122 | 831 | 6.81 | 0 | 0 |
| TENNESSEE | 4 | 0 | 21 | 5.25 | 91 | 718 | 7.89 | 0 | 0 |
| WASHINGTON | 3 | 0 | 25 | 8.33 | 107 | 689 | 6.44 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 214 | 23 | 1679 | 8.79 | 3359 | 23927 | 7.13 | 10 | 5 |
Penalties by type
| Name | Number called | Percentage | YTD | YTD Percentage |
| CHOP BLOCK | 0 | 0.00% | 10 | 0.30% |
| CLIPPING | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.03% |
| DEFENSIVE DELAY OF GAME | 0 | 0.00% | 2 | 0.06% |
| DEFENSIVE HOLDING | 27 | 12.68% | 270 | 8.04% |
| DEFENSIVE OFFSIDE | 12 | 5.63% | 170 | 5.06% |
| DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | 17 | 7.98% | 248 | 7.39% |
| DEFENSIVE TOO MANY MEN ON FIELD | 3 | 1.41% | 32 | 0.95% |
| DELAY OF GAME | 1 | 0.47% | 100 | 2.98% |
| DELAY OF KICKOFF | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.03% |
| DISQUALIFICATION | 0 | 0.00% | 11 | 0.33% |
| ENCROACHMENT | 4 | 1.88% | 27 | 0.80% |
| FACE MASK (15 YARDS) | 9 | 4.23% | 65 | 1.94% |
| FAIR CATCH INTERFERENCE | 0 | 0.00% | 6 | 0.18% |
| FALSE START | 28 | 13.15% | 458 | 13.64% |
| HORSE COLLAR TACKLE | 1 | 0.47% | 13 | 0.39% |
| ILLEGAL BAT | 1 | 0.47% | 3 | 0.09% |
| ILLEGAL BLINDSIDE BLOCK | 5 | 2.35% | 27 | 0.80% |
| ILLEGAL BLOCK ABOVE THE WAIST | 9 | 4.23% | 140 | 4.17% |
| ILLEGAL CONTACT | 3 | 1.41% | 43 | 1.28% |
| ILLEGAL CRACKBACK | 1 | 0.47% | 2 | 0.06% |
| ILLEGAL DOUBLE-TEAM BLOCK | 1 | 0.47% | 15 | 0.45% |
| ILLEGAL FORMATION | 6 | 2.82% | 79 | 2.35% |
| ILLEGAL FORWARD PASS | 1 | 0.47% | 7 | 0.21% |
| ILLEGAL MOTION | 0 | 0.00% | 11 | 0.33% |
| ILLEGAL SHIFT | 3 | 1.41% | 61 | 1.82% |
| ILLEGAL SUBSTITUTION | 1 | 0.47% | 5 | 0.15% |
| ILLEGAL TOUCH KICK | 1 | 0.47% | 9 | 0.27% |
| ILLEGAL TOUCH PASS | 1 | 0.47% | 1 | 0.03% |
| ILLEGAL USE OF HANDS | 5 | 2.35% | 116 | 3.45% |
| INELIGIBLE DOWNFIELD KICK | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.03% |
| INELIGIBLE DOWNFIELD PASS | 1 | 0.47% | 43 | 1.28% |
| INTENTIONAL GROUNDING | 3 | 1.41% | 26 | 0.77% |
| INVALID FAIR CATCH SIGNAL | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.03% |
| LOW BLOCK | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.03% |
| KICK CATCH INTERFERENCE | 0 | 0.00% | 5 | 0.15% |
| LOWERING THE HEAD TO INITIATE CONTACT | 2 | 0.94% | 26 | 0.77% |
| NEUTRAL ZONE INFRACTION | 9 | 4.23% | 129 | 3.84% |
| OFFENSIVE HOLDING | 35 | 16.43% | 748 | 22.28% |
| OFFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE | 3 | 1.41% | 111 | 3.31% |
| OFFENSIVE TOO MANY MEN ON FIELD | 0 | 0.00% | 12 | 0.36% |
| OFFSIDE ON FREE KICK | 0 | 0.00% | 10 | 0.30% |
| PLAYER OUT OF BOUNDS ON KICK | 0 | 0.00% | 5 | 0.15% |
| ROUGHING THE KICKER | 0 | 0.00% | 8 | 0.24% |
| ROUGHING THE PASSER | 6 | 2.82% | 113 | 3.37% |
| RUNNING INTO THE KICKER | 0 | 0.00% | 11 | 0.33% |
| TAUNTING | 0 | 0.00% | 8 | 0.24% |
| TRIPPING | 0 | 0.00% | 7 | 0.21% |
| UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS | 13 | 6.10% | 133 | 3.96% |
| UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT | 1 | 0.47% | 27 | 0.80% |
| 214 | 100.00% | 3358 | 100.00% |
*note that the zeros are penalties called from previous weeks but still in the list. Way too lazy to remove them and it ups my word count. Ha.
Offensive holding with over 16% of the total penalties called this week, down from last week of 17%.
Total number of penalties are down from 227 last week to 214 ( out of 2863 total plays) this week with no teams on bye.
I also find it interesting that the number of penalties while about the same as last week, the type of penalties and their severity is way down. It’s like playing on a short week (6 teams playing on Thanksgiving) and then having extra days rest is a good thing. Who knew?
ALL HAIL BLEERGH.
Thanks to http://nflsavant.com for the raw play by play data.
I felt that BLEERGH was being mocked by the Jest DL last night. 2 straight offsides inside the one-foot line. THEY SHALL PAY.
One penalty you forgot “calling someone a retard” and the result was “their unconditional release”