NFL Defensive Penalties for Holding, Illegal Contact and Pass Interference Explained

You’re watching the NFL. A pass is thrown and falls incomplete, but there’s a flag in the secondary — the defense illegally interfered with receivers. The referee gives out the penalty and it’s one of three: holding, illegal contact or pass interference. What’s the difference between these penalties on defense?

Holding

A holding penalty is just that — using your hands or arms to grab someone other than the ball carrier in a way that slows them down or makes them unable to maneuver normally. It is a common penalty for both the offense and the defense. Holding is called only before a pass is thrown — after that, other penalties apply.

• Can only happen before a pass is thrown
• Grabbing or hooking that interferes with the receiver
• 5 yard penalty and automatic first down

Illegal contact

There’s a lot of other kinds of contact in addition to holding. If you just push someone to the ground without grabbing them, that’s clearly not holding, but could also be illegal. If a defender initiates forcible contact beyond five yards of the line of scrimmage it’s a foul, but only if the quarterback is still in the pocket. If the quarterback is scrambling but hasn’t thrown a pass yet, a defender can full-on truck someone and have it be completely legal — the Legion of Boom alumni cornerback Richard Sherman is known for doing this on occasion.

• Can only happen before a pass is thrown
• Can only happen when the quarterback is in the pocket
• Initiating any kind of contact that interferes with the receiver
• 5 yard penalty and automatic first down

Pass interference

The NFL likes its flashy passing plays, so when a pass is thrown there are additional protections to anyone trying to catch the ball. Basically, both holding and illegal contact are rolled into one penalty called pass interference and the penalty is also more severe, as instead of being penalized 5 yards, the ball is placed at the spot of the foul — usually much beyond those 5 yards. The emphasis is on whether a player is going after the ball or the opposing player — the former is legal while the latter is very easily penalized.

• Can only happen when a pass is thrown and the ball is in the air
• Pushing, tackling or holding that‘s solely meant for it to be harder for a player to catch the ball
• Can not happen if the ball is tipped or deemed uncatchable regardless of the interference
• Spot foul and automatic first down

Knowing these rules, you can even get a spoiler alert when the referee is starting to give out the call. If the announcement starts with “before the pass was thrown”, that will mean that it’s a defensive holding penalty. If it starts with “while the quarterback was still in the pocket”, it’s a defensive illegal contact penalty. Have fun celebrating early if you’re rooting for the offense!