NFL Officiating Observatory
LEAGUE TRENDS
NFL penalty trends 2026: are penalties up?
2026 games average 14.7 accepted penalties through Week 7, vs 12.7 across all of 2025. About 9.0% of plays draw a flag (one every 11.1 plays). The biggest increases vs 2025 through Week 7: offensive holding, delay of game, neutral zone infraction. Flags usually fade as the season goes on: Weeks 15–18 average 19% fewer than Weeks 1–4.
Penalties per game by season
| Season | Games | Full season / game | Weeks 1–7 / game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 256 | 13.8 | 14.7 |
| 2016 | 256 | 13.4 | 13.9 |
| 2017 | 256 | 13.3 | 13.8 |
| 2018 | 256 | 13.4 | 13.4 |
| 2019 | 256 | 13.5 | 14.6 |
| 2020 | 256 | 11.2 | 11.4 |
| 2021 | 272 | 11.8 | 12.5 |
| 2022 | 271 | 11.2 | 12.1 |
| 2023 | 272 | 11.4 | 12.5 |
| 2024 | 272 | 12.9 | 13.0 |
| 2025 | 272 | 12.7 | 14.2 |
| 2026 | 107 | — | 14.7 |
Regular season. The early-weeks column compares every season over the same weeks as the current one, the fair comparison while a season is in progress.
Which penalties are increasing?
| Penalty | 2026 / game | 2025 Wk 1–7 / game | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive Holding | 3.25 | 2.80 | +0.45 |
| Delay of Game | 1.02 | 0.77 | +0.25 |
| Neutral Zone Infraction | 0.40 | 0.25 | +0.15 |
| Illegal Block Above the Waist | 0.31 | 0.22 | +0.09 |
| Encroachment | 0.19 | 0.12 | +0.07 |
| False Start | 2.56 | 2.51 | +0.05 |
| Roughing the Passer | 0.47 | 0.43 | +0.04 |
| Illegal Use of Hands | 0.30 | 0.26 | +0.04 |
| Unsportsmanlike Conduct | 0.11 | 0.09 | +0.02 |
| Offensive Pass Interference | 0.25 | 0.24 | +0.01 |
| Defensive Pass Interference | 1.17 | 1.18 | -0.01 |
| Face Mask | 0.41 | 0.42 | -0.01 |
| Defensive Offside | 0.58 | 0.61 | -0.03 |
| Illegal Formation | 0.40 | 0.46 | -0.06 |
| Defensive Holding | 0.71 | 0.77 | -0.06 |
| Ineligible Downfield Pass | 0.15 | 0.22 | -0.07 |
| Unnecessary Roughness | 0.64 | 0.75 | -0.11 |
| Illegal Contact | 0.30 | 0.49 | -0.19 |
When are penalties called?
Since 2015, flags per game by quarter: Q1 2.65, Q2 3.69, Q3 2.98, Q4 3.28. The second quarter usually leads, partly because the two-minute drill packs in extra plays.
Home vs road
In 2026, 50.0% of flags are on road teams and 50.0% on home teams (2015–25 crews: 49% on the home team).
What penalties cost
League-wide, flags cost each team about 6.51 expected points per game in 2026. Most costly: Jacksonville Jaguars (9.53), Washington Commanders (8.61), Buffalo Bills (8.47).