Tag: Penalty

Saints still lead the NFL in penalty yards through 4 weeks

The New Orleans Saints lead the NFL in penalty yards through their first four games, mostly due to defensive pass interference fouls.

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With the majority of NFL teams having played four games to start the 2020 season, and the New Orleans Saints are still an outlier when it comes to penalties. While they were fouled just four times for 67 yards in their win over the Detroit Lions, the Saints still lead the league in total penalty yardage (398), averaging nearly 100 yards per game.

Most of that can be attributed to defensive penalties; their offense has yielded just 70 penalty yards, the twelfth-fewest number in the NFL. The defense leads the league with 328 penalty yards. About 61.3% of that yardage has come from defensive pass interference fouls alone, where New Orleans has given up nearly as many yards (244) as the next three teams combined (252 from the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New England Patriots, who have played just three games so far).

Things will continue to normalize as the sample size grows with more games being played. This week, the New York Jets and Chicago Bears each racked up more than 100 penalty yards, helping to close the gap between the Saints and the rest of the NFL. But that’s not company the Saints want to keep, and even now they are an outlier among outliers — the NFL average for defensive penalty yards per game is just 113.4. The Saints have nearly tripled that.

Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders called out the NFL’s officiating after Week 3’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, publicly asking why opposing defenders were allowed to get away with penalty-worthy moves that earned flags for his Saints teammates. Through four weeks, the Saints have been the beneficiary of just 19 penalties, the seventh-fewest in the league (tying with the Patriots, who play Monday night).

And there were moments when the referees took aim at the Saints for fouls in coverage against Detroit. Linebacker Alex Anzalone was flagged twice, once for DPI and again for illegal contact, on moves that didn’t appear very egregious but still helped lead to Lions touchdowns. Free safety Marcus Williams was also penalized for competing on a contested catch, despite having turned his head around to look for the ball.

Maybe the NFL’s officiating brotherhood is still stinging from last year’s rebuke, when Saints coach Sean Payton helped introduce a new rule making pass interference subject to replay review (it didn’t take; the rule was ineffective and criticized for slowing down game flow, and abandoned after one year). That was a big affront to their authority and it’s easy to explain this trend away as them looking for any reason to penalize Payton’s team. But you’d think they could be better professionals and not stoop to that.

Whatever the case, the Saints must continue to clean up their act. Giving up so many free yards to opposing teams has put them in too many tight spots this season. Whether it’s changes in coaching instruction or play style, the Saints have to keep tweaking things to limit the impact penalties can have on their games. It’s tough enough to beat one opponent, much less two.

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Vic Fangio says penalty on Alexander Johnson was ‘highly questionable’

NFL officials blew a call on ‘Monday Night Football’ and cost the Broncos an interception.

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In the third quarter of Monday’s game between the Broncos and Titans, rookie cornerback Michael Ojemudia had an interception nullified by an unnecessary roughness penalty called against linebacker Alexander Johnson.

Johnson was deemed to have used unnecessary roughness to hit a player out of the play. In reality, Johnson hit a player within five yards of the line of scrimmage (legal) and it wasn’t from behind and he didn’t use his helmet.

“I was just playing ball, playing within the whistle — playing football — playing within the whistle, but referee saw something else and it sucks that we had an interception and had to return,” Johnson said after a 16-14 loss to the Titans on Monday. “I feel like that hurt the team right there.”

After reviewing the film, Broncos coach Vic Fangio indicated Tuesday that Johnson shouldn’t have been penalized.

“I thought it was a highly questionable call,” Fangio said. “I didn’t see it happen live until I saw it on the tape. He just chucked a guy in his chest inside of five yards. He didn’t hit him in the back or neck or head area. I was surprised by the call.”

Tennessee ended up settling for a field goal on that drive so the blown call didn’t directly result in any points for the Titans but it sucked momentum away from Denver with the game tied 7-7.

The penalty was unfortunate but Johnson had a great game overall, leading the team with 12 tackles in Week 1.

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49ers troll the Saints, advise fans to ‘grab a face mask’ during pandemic

The San Francisco 49ers got in a dig at the New Orleans Saints on Twitter while reminding fans to wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic

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The novel coronavirus pandemic has continued to spread throughout the United States, with hotbeds of infections growing in Texas, Arizona, and Florida. California has also been hit hard, prompting the San Francisco 49ers to send a message to their fans advocating for personal health and safety measures.

Unfortunately, the New Orleans Saints caught a stray. The 49ers shared a message on Twitter saying, “Be a saint. Grab a face mask,” complete with a brief video of one of the 2019 season’s lowest moments for Saints fans: free safety Marcus Williams’ desperate face mask penalty to save a would-be touchdown catch-and-run by 49ers tight end George Kittle near the end of that loss.

It’s a low blow; hopefully the Saints will get the opportunity to strike back in their 2020 rematch with San Francisco, scheduled for Nov. 15. But more Americans must follow that advice and mask up, preventing further coronavirus infections and potentially saving lives, if we’re going to get there.

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Hand caught in the cookie jar, Texas A&M football faces NCAA penalties

The NCAA announced on Thursday that the Texas A&M coaching staff violated recruiting rules.

The Longhorns and Aggies may not be rivals on the field anymore, but they certainly battle with each other on the recruiting trail. Continue reading “Hand caught in the cookie jar, Texas A&M football faces NCAA penalties”

J.T. Gray lost most of his game check to NFL fine for illegal block vs. Vikings

New Orleans Saints safety J.T. Gray, a second-team All-Pro, was fined $28,075 for an illegal blindside block versus the wild-card Vikings.

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It’s bad enough that the New Orleans Saints were unceremoniously booted out of the playoff picture in last week’s loss to the wild-card Minnesota Vikings. You have to feel for backup safety J.T. Gray, who was penalized for an illegal blindside block during a punt return — and then hit with a $28,075 fine by the league office, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

While he may have been voted a second-team All-Pro for his efforts on special teams, Gray’s salary ranked low on the team in 2019. He played on $570,000 contract that paid out just over $33,529 per week. In the playoffs, the NFL’s tiered payout structure granted him $31,000 for his participation in the wild-card round as a member of a division-winning team.

Now, most of that cash is gone. It’s unfortunate for a young player to be fined so heavily for a foul, especially on a rule that was just recently introduced in last offseason’s owners meetings. There’s no doubting the validity of his penalty and the fine that it drew, but maybe the NFL Players Association and the league can reach some sort of compromise on fining players relative to their income during the ongoing CBA negotiations. It would do a lot to help out the players who aren’t as experienced or as financially secure as their peers. Hopefully it’s something the powers that be will consider.

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Don’t single out Eli Apple for Saints’ penalties on defense

New Orleans Saints cornerback Eli Apple may have struggled recently, but don’t blame him for the team’s penalties when he’s playing so often

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Whether they’re playing too sloppy or are simply victims of variance, the New Orleans Saints are committing too many penalties. It’s something they know they need to clean up, and it’s a point of emphasis for Saints coach Sean Payton and his staff.

Some Saints fans have been eager to single out cornerback Eli Apple, who leads the defensive backs with seven accepted penalties (three others were offset or declined by the offense) through New Orleans’ first twelve games. But doing that is a really ignorant move given context. He’s been a clean player for much of the season, but hit a slump with six fouls in his last three games, including three penalties last Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons.

Per charting from Pro Football Focus, Apple leads all Saints cornerbacks in both snaps played (802) and coverage snaps (560). Of course he’s going to draw more targets — and more opportunities to commit a mistake — by playing more often than his peers. Considering all 10 of the penalties he’s drawn (though just seven were accepted, remember), that’s a rate of just one foul every 80.2 snaps he plays. In other words, he’s being flagged for 1.2% of his total snaps.

Compare that to his peers. Rookie defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson has only played 369 total snaps (270 in coverage), but he’s drawn six penalties (all of them accepted). That’s a foul every 61.5 snaps, or 1.6% of his time on the field. Some rookie mistakes are to be expected, and that inexperience extends to Apple, who has only worn black and gold in 24 games (including the playoffs). He’s had very little time to learn from a quality coaching staff in New Orleans after struggling to understand whatever New York Giants coach Pat Shurmur and his staff, few of whom should keep their jobs after another losing season, were trying to teach him.

Hypothetically, the player who would replace Apple if he were benched is cornerback P.J. Williams, who has played 586 snaps (388 in coverage) but drawn four penalty flags. His penalty rate is 0.7%, or one foul every 146.5 snaps. But Williams has the worst coverage grade from PFF and was abused last week by Carolina Panthers sleeper D.J. Moore. He’s a solid slot specialist who can’t handle extended action outside.

The last cornerback worth examining is the best of the group: Marshon Lattimore, who has played 612 defensive snaps (dropping back in coverage on 425 of them) and only been flagged three times (one of them offset). That’s a rate of one foul every 204 snaps, or 0.5% of his total playing-time. While Lattimore’s hamstring issues are still lingering over from his college days, he’s clearly the best player in the group, and someone the others should model their game after.

Look at the difference between them. Lattimore’s penalty rate (0.5%) really isn’t that far off from Apple’s (1.2%), all things considered. Apple’s penalty rate is almost indistinguishable from those of the players some fans insist should be playing ahead of him, whether it’s Gardner-Johnson (1.6%) or Williams (0.7%). Gardner-Johnson is still learning his role as a nickel or dime defender, while Williams has proven many times he can’t hack it in Apple’s position.

So be thankful that the Saints are 10-2, and that Apple has been a big part of their success. Be thankful that the Saints aren’t starting the likes of Ken Crawley, Sterling Moore, B.W. Webb, Brandon Browner, and Corey White at cornerback anymore. Things could be so much worse than having Apple lined up on the outside.

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What’s with the penalty disparity between the Saints and their opponents?

The New Orleans Saints rank among the most-penalized NFL teams, but their opponents are playing uncharacteristically clean against them.

The New Orleans Saints have overcome plenty of adversity this year, ranging from the five-week loss of starting quarterback Drew Brees to an opening-half schedule that saw them travel to play four opponents on the road in their first six weeks. They’ve also dealt with extra attention from the NFL’s referees and their officiating crews. That’s just part of the game, but this season (and in recent weeks specifically), it’s been unprecedented.

Check out the chart above from Jeff Asher of AH Datalytics, sourced from Pro Football Reference. From what we can see there, the Saints and their opponents have largely been penalized at similar rates; New Orleans played largely-clean football from 2006 to 2009, though a brief window from 2015 to 2017 saw their sloppy play benefit their opponents. But this latest surge in fouls has been very clearly one-sided.

The Saints are averaging 7.9 penalties per game, which ranks eighth-worst in the NFL. That’s turned into 68.3 penalty yards per game, nearly the equivalent of an offensive drive downfield after good starting field position. It’s kept a number of opposing drives alive, with New Orleans’ opponents gaining the second-most first downs by penalty per game (2.8) in the league.

And as the chart above demonstrates, the teams playing the Saints are not being held to the same standard. Those opponents are averaging the fewest penalties per game (5.3) and penalty yards surrendered per game (40.6) in football, granting the Saints the second-fewest first downs by penalty per game (0.92) around the NFL.

In a perfect world, officials would keep things fair and balanced and refuse to let one team get away with foul-worthy plays while turning a blind eye to their opponents. However, so long as people — with limited vision and too much autonomy to make judgment calls — are in charge, mistakes are going to happen. You would expect one team to end the day with fewer penalties than their opponent; typically speaking, some teams are better-coached and more disciplined than others. But the difference between how the Saints are being judged and how their opponents are being officiated deserves inspection.

One possible answer for that disparity could be that the Saints are playing a schedule filled with the league’s fewest-penalized teams. That’s not the case. New Orleans has played many teams ranked inside the top half of the league in penalties and penalty yards per game. We’ve broken down their penalty stats per game against what they were fouled for in the Saints’ games in the chart below:

This illustrates how officiating was nearly even to start the year, if marginally beneficial to the Saints. But over time (especially in recent weeks) there has been a visible shift in opposing teams being fouled less often against the Saints than in their typical games. Things bottomed out in Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, when they were fouled for 6.8 penalties and 61.5 penalty yards below their season averages. There’s been a clear shift since that game.

On the whole, the Saints’ opponents have averaged 2.2 fewer penalties per game and 21.4 fewer penalty yards per game when playing against New Orleans than in their typical outings. In a vacuum, that isn’t much. But when considered in the big picture, those numbers snowball into 35.2 penalties and 342.4 penalty yards over a 16-game season.

So what gives? Are the Saints playing sloppy, while their opponents suddenly turn in their cleanest games of the year back-to-back-to-back? Or are the officials allowing the teams playing the Saints to get away with the ticky-tack fouls that happen on every down (holding, hands-to-the-face, that sort of thing) while not giving New Orleans the same leeway? It’s bizarre to say the least.

A big part of the problem is limited sample size. Analyzing the game from a quantifiable perspective like this works in other sports like baseball and basketball because there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of data points to work with, whereas football begins and ends very quickly, relying on a 16-game regular season and four-stage postseason tournament. Instances like this are easy to explain away as an outlier, a freak accident, against what recent history informs us. That said, it’s totally understandable if fans aren’t satisfied with that explanation. It’s frustrating to see your team get fouled for what the other squad gets away with, week in and week out.

For his part, Saints coach Sean Payton isn’t going to chalk up these lost plays and surrendered yards to any biases from the NFL’s officials. He’s preached the need for improved coaching from his staff as well as better discipline from his players, summing up the situation after their penalty-filled Week 12 win over the Carolina Panthers as, “We are going to need to be smarter in bigger games.” That makes sense, because it’s all he and his team can control.

Hopefully the Saints can clean it up and give the officials fewer opportunities to impact their games. Despite dealing with quality opponents and a fine-combed approach by the zebras, the Saints are still 10-2 and owners of their third consecutive NFC South title.

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Cameron Jordan owns up to ugly personal foul penalty: ‘That’s on me’

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan took the blame for an ugly penalty against Carolina Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen.

The New Orleans Saints put a lot of responsibility on Cameron Jordan’s shoulders. The veteran defensive end is one of the most-experienced and longest-tenured players one the team, and his status as a captain makes him someone to rally around and look to for example.

So his unnecessary roughness penalty against Carolina Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen was uncharacteristic to say the least. Jordan is a former Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee recognized throughout the NFL for his sportsmanship and clean style of play, but this incident on Sunday hurt his team, his reputation, and Allen’s face.

When Saints linebacker Demario Davis spun Allen around for a sack on a long third down to force Carolina to punt the ball away, Jordan jumped into the fray to try and strip the ball from Allen’s arms. Except he did so after an official’s whistle had blown the play dead. And when Jordan punched at the ball, he missed and struck Allen’s facemask, sending the quarterback reeling as Davis threw him down.

“Gotta hear that whistle,” Jordan wrote from his official Twitter account after the game. “That’s on me gotta hear that whistle.”

It was an ugly moment for sure, and the Panthers capitalized on the opportunity (Jordan was hit with a 15-yard personal foul, granting Carolina a fresh set of downs from their own 44-yard line). Fortunately, Jordan’s Saints were able to end the game on a high note and send the Panthers home with a loss.

These two teams will play again during the Week 17 regular season finale; hopefully Jordan and his teammates can avoid more mistakes after drawing a dozen fouls for 123 penalty yards in what was very nearly an upset.

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Two Saints players fined $21,054 for fouls against the Falcons

The NFL issued $10,527 fines to New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas and DB J.T. Gray for unnecessary roughness against the Atlanta Falcons.

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New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas committed a rare mistake against the Atlanta Falcons last week, and it ended up costing him $10,527 in a fine from the league office. Amie Just of Nola.com reported Saturday that Thomas received a fine for unnecessary roughness after being fouled for grabbing the face mask of an opponent during the second quarter.

It was an uncharacteristic penalty from one of the Saints’ most-dependable players, and one he’s unlikely to repeat. The good news is that Thomas can afford it easily enough — he inked a five-year, $96.25 million contract extension this offseason that pays out roughly $96,943 per game this season.

But Thomas wasn’t the only one to get a letter from the NFL. Just also reported that backup safety and special teams ace J.T. Gray was also fined $10,527 due to a roughing the kicker penalty in the same game, in which he fell into Falcons punter Ryan Allen’s planted leg during the fourth quarter. And unlike Thomas, Gray is still playing on his rookie contract — meaning almost a third of his $33,529 weekly game check will go towards paying for this mistake.

Unfortunately, these sorts of mental errors and sloppy mistakes were common a week ago. Self-inflicted penalties like these (and a series of fouls for hands to the face from four different defenders) hurt the Saints, wiping out big gains and nullifying defensive stops on third down. The Saints know they can’t repeat that kind of messy performance, and while they don’t need added motivation, these hits to their wallets certainly won’t keep them from remembering that.

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