The Flags You'll Actually See

A handful of penalties are most of what you will see on a Sunday, and each is a story about a lost matchup. Before the snap: a false start (an offensive player flinches, five yards, the down replays) and its mirror, offside or a neutral-zone infraction (a defender crosses early, five yards). Both are tempo battles — the hard count tries to draw the defense across the line. Delay of game is the play clock hitting zero. Illegal formation is fewer than seven men on the line or a receiver covering up a tight end, which quietly makes him ineligible; watch for the tackle who reports as eligible on a goal-line play.

After the snap the big ones are about losing position. Holding — grabbing instead of moving your feet — costs the offense ten yards and is the most common flag in the game; on defense it costs five and hands over a first down. Pass interference is contact that keeps a player from the ball before it arrives; at the pro level the defense pays at the spot of the foul, which is why a deep throw into coverage is never worthless. Ineligible man downfield is a lineman too deep before a pass — the flag that polices the RPO. A block in the back is the return-game flag: the blocker could only see the defender's number. Roughing the passer and targeting are the player-safety flags, fifteen yards and, at some levels, an ejection.

Then the math, which is what the referee's announcement is really about. The offended team can accept the penalty or decline it and keep the play's result — a ten-yard holding call on a four-yard run is accepted; on a play the defense stopped for a loss it is declined. Offsetting fouls replay the down. Some penalties carry an automatic first down; some, like intentional grounding, cost a down. Watch the chains after every flag: the yardage is only half of the penalty. The other half is which down you are now playing on.