clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Opinion: NFL penalties should be fair and balanced on offense and defense

How many times do you get annoyed watching a game seeing a defensive penalty become an automatic first down all the time with the exception of an offsides penalty or 12 men on defense? I know I do.

By Wola Odeniran
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

How many times do you get annoyed watching a game seeing a defensive penalty become an automatic first down all the time with the exception of an offsides penalty or 12 men on defense? I know I do. The NFL allows opposing offenses to get by with ticky-tack penalties on defense, half of which it seems to be very subjective.

If the NFL wants to keep penalties like defensive holding, defensive pass interference, personal foul, illegal contact, etc. intact on defense, then that's fine. But the least they could do is enforce greater penalties on offense to make it fair and balanced.

A lot of the rules against defenses these days like, "Helmet to helmet contact" or hitting a, "Defenseless receiver" are a problem not really because it is called, but because it is an automatic first down.

Similar rules need to apply on offense. When a player on offense gets called for holding on first down for example, it is only a 10 yard penalty and the first down is replayed. So instead of first and 10, it will be first and 20. The referees will not call an automatic third down or fourth down on a player holding on offense because those are not the rules. But the same standards that are met on defense should be met on offense. It's only fair.

Instances during a game that are not fair for defenses and proposals to the current rules

  • If an offensive player commits a personal foul penalty on first down, why should the offense be rewarded with the first down being replayed again and only resulting in a 15 yard penalty on top of that? It should be an automatic fourth down.
  • When an offensive lineman is called for holding, the offense should lose a down just like a quarterback loses a down for intentional grounding instead of only losing 10 yards and replaying the down like they do right now.
  • When a receiver is called for offensive pass interference on first down for example, why should the offense only lose 10 yards and the first down is replayed? The offense should literally lose a down and result, it should be an automatic third down.

Why losing a down on offense would make the game more exciting

Creating penalties on offense that result in an automatic third or fourth down create interesting situations. It would make offenses go for it on fourth down more often. Instead of seeing a game filled with punts all over the place, offenses will be forced to create more strategy and possibly in go for a fourth down conversion inside their own territory.


Overall

While you don't want the game to be over-officiated, you want things to be fair and balanced on both sides. The NFL has made it a point that they want to see more scoring, but just because two teams score a lot of points during a game doesn't make it a good game. It just makes it a game featuring two exposed defenses. If I want to watch a football game being played with zero quality defenses, I can go watch the Big 12 conference instead.

More From Baltimore Beatdown