NFL penalties explained: Every major flag and what it means

You’re watching the game and your favorite team is driving. Another first down, but wait! What do these NFL referee signals mean? The ref tosses a yellow flag and all of sudden your team is walking backward 15 yards. 

Penalties are put into the game to prevent teams from having a competitive advantage over each other. They are a necessary evil to the game, but certainly not something you want to see happen to your team. Here is the NFL penalty list and yardage for each situation.

Offensive Penalties and what they mean:

• False Start: 5 yard penalty. A false start occurs on offense when a player moves suddenly or begins the play before the ball is snapped.
• Illegal Formation: 5 yard penalty. The offense lines up with fewer than seven players on the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped or fails to meet correct wide receiver positioning. This also occurs if more than one player goes in motion at a time. That is also known as “Illegal Shift.”
• Delay of Game: 5 yard penalty. The offense fails to snap the ball before the game clock reaches zero. 
• Ineligible Man Downfield: 5 yard penalty. An offensive lineman cannot move past the line of scrimmage on a pass play before the pass is thrown. 
• Offensive Holding: 10 yard penalty. Offensive holding penalty is explained by a blocker grabs, holds, pulls or prevents the defender from releasing from their block.
• Offensive Pass Interference: 10 yard penalty. The NFL pass interference rules are unique to offense and defense. An offensive player makes contact downfield with a defender to prevent them from making a play on the ball while a pass is in the air.
• Intentional Grounding: 10 yard penalty, loss of down. If the quarterback is still in the pocket, they must throw the ball in the area of a receiver. The ball must pass the line of scrimmage as well. They can’t throw the ball directly at the ground, not near anyone, to avoid a sack.

Defensive Penalties explained

• Offsides: 5 yard penalty. This foul occurs when a defensive player is on the wrong side of the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped,
• Encroachment: 5 yard penalty. A defensive player crosses the line of scrimmage and makes contact with an offensive player before the ball is snapped.
• Neutral Zone Infraction: 5 yard penalty. A defensive lineman crosses the line of scrimmage before the play and causes an offensive player to move and commit a false start.

• Too Many Men on the Field: 5 yard penalty. The defense has greater than 11 players on the field of play when the ball is snapped.
• Defensive Pass Interference: Spot Foul. The defender makes contact with the receiver that prevents them from having a fair chance at catching the ball. Spot foul means the offense gets the ball wherever the foul occurred.
• Defensive Holding: 5 yards, automatic first down. The defender grabs, restricts, pulls or makes illegal contact with a player who does not have the ball. This is one of the few automatic first down penalties in the NFL.
• Roughing the Passer: 15 yards, automatic first down. The defender forcefully hits the quarterback after the pass is thrown, makes egregious contact with the quarterback (helmet to helmet hit, dives at their knees), or drives the quarterback into the ground with their full body weight.
• Illegal Contact: 5 yards, automatic first down. The defender initiates contact with a receiver more than five yards down the field before a pass is thrown.

Penalties that can occur at anytime and what they mean

• Unnecessary Roughness: 15 yard penalty. A player uses unnecessary force when hitting a player, they make excessive contact after a play is finished, they push someone who is already out of bounds, or they throw a punch.
• Illegal Use of Hands to the Face: 5 or 15 yards based on severity. A player forcefully pushes their hands into an opposing player’s face.
• Facemask: 15 yard penalty. A player grabs and/or pulls an opposing player’s facemask.
• Unsportsmanlike Conduct: 15 yard penalty. The player makes a gesture, contact or disrespectful words at another player, official or crowd member.
• Palpably Unfair Act: A score and an ejection.This is known as the rarest NFL penalty. The ref is given the authority to impose any remedy deemed equitable under the circumstances, including the power to award a team a score (if the act prevented a score from occuring) and eject the player who drew the flag.

FAQs about common NFL penalties

What is the rarest penalty in the NFL?

Palpably Unfair Act. The ref can award a team a score and eject the offending player.

Which NFL penalties result in an automatic first down?

Defensive holding, Roughing the passer and Illegal Contact.

What is the difference between offsides, encroachment, and a neutral zone infraction?

Offside happens when a player is on the wrong side of the line of scrimmage when the play starts. Encroachment is when the defender makes contact with an offensive player before the play starts. Neutral zone infraction is when the defender jumps offsides and causes an offensive player to move.

How many total penalties exist in the NFL rulebook?

There are roughly 50 to 60 different penalties in the NFL rulebook.

Can a team decline a penalty, and why would they?

Yes, if they would be in a more advantageous position without the penalty, many teams decline the penalty.

What is a spot foul versus a fixed-yardage penalty?

A spot foul means you get the ball where the penalty occurred while a fixed-yardage penalty means you get a yardage reward from the line of scrimmage.

What is the penalty for pass interference in the NFL?

Offense pass interference is a 10 yard penalty while defensive pass interference is a spot foul and automatic first down.

What happens when two penalties offset each other?

If both teams commit a foul on the same play, neither team is awarded yards and they replay the down.

- Q: What is intentional grounding and when is it called?

When a quarterback throws the ball at the ground behind the line of scrimmage without a receiver in the area.