The NFL wants there to be more of an emphasis on illegal contact penalties.
It appears referees are listening.
As preseason games began, the NFL told referees it wanted to see a focus on calling illegal contact. Essentially, it means a defensive player in coverage can only engage a receiver within five yards of the line of scrimmage. It’s a backbreaker when whistled, giving teams five yards and an automatic first down.
Further, a defensive back engaging in illegal contact can have absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the play and still get called, making it a uniquely frustrating penalty.
But after 36 illegal contact calls were made all last season, 15 were flagged in Week 1 of the preseason.
Mike Pereira, a FOX rules analyst and former referee and VP of Officiating for the NFL, is expecting that to become more commonplace.
“Illegal contact is probably the one, and that’s the one to me that changes the game,” he said Monday on the "Rich Eisen Show". “And it’s not a rule change, the rule is exactly the same, but the emphasis is not, they want more calls. And why do they want that, because the committee looks at numbers. You look at the 2021 season and all the sudden you see that points per game were down four points a game, passing yards per game were down 24 yards.”
Pereira pointed out that the numbers were down in 2021 because they were so high in 2020, but that looks like it will do little to reel in the number of illegal contact calls this season.
“You look at the numbers that reflect the year before and they’re down and so you make an emphasis of it," Pereira said. "We did it in 2003 when I was there, and all of a sudden the number of illegal contact calls in the year went from 79 in 2003 to 191 in 2004. Did it again in 2013 when the numbers were 59 and it went to I think it was about 160 the following year. Last year there were only 39 calls, which was one of the lowest ever in terms of illegal contact since the rule came in.
“So you’re going to see more of those and it will frustrate the daylights out of people. Because it’s one thing to have a five-yard penalty when it’s 3rd and 17, but when the five-yard penalty for illegal contact – which has nothing to do with the severity of the contact. Even if it doesn’t affect the receiver, if it’s initiated by the defender, it carries that five yards and an automatic first down, so it becomes a huge penalty.”
While the volume of illegal contact calls per game in the preseason might end up being higher than in the regular season, it seems like you can bank on a deliberately substantial rise.
What could go wrong?
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram