Report: NFL To Emphasize Holding Penalties In 2019 With Strict Enforcement
BOSTON (CBS) -- Are you ready for some ... penalty flags?!
According to a new report, you better be, as NFL officials have been tasked with more strictly enforcing holding penalties in 2019, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifert.
Seifert wrote that "offensive holding will be a significant point of emphasis for NFL officials this season" and that "existing rules on holding 'will be more strictly enforced this season, particularly on the backside of the run play or line of scrimmage,'" according to "guidance" sent to officials over the weekend.
Seifert also noted that in the past when the league placed points of emphasis on particular penalties, the frequency of those penalty calls has spiked.
"Last season," Seifert wrote, "a one-week point of emphasis on offensive holding led to 94 such flags, 42% more than in any week since at least 2012."
As with any instance of "added emphasis" on a rule, it's not clear exactly how this change might play out. Yet it does seem fair to prepare for a whole lot more yellow flying, especially in the preseason, as the NFL officials try their best at following the league's orders.
Coming off a season that ended in controversy with a missed pass interference call in the NFC Championship Game and another missed pass interference penalty in the Super Bowl, officiating has been a major storyline through the offseason.