New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady tweeted Thursday night that “ridiculous penalties” in the first half of the Tennessee Titans–Jacksonville Jaguars game led him to turn it off. There were 15 penalties in the first half called by referee Shawn Hochuli’s crew, eight of which were for holding. There were 20 penalties in total for the game, including declined penalties. No flags were thrown in the third quarter.
he NFL has had an increased emphasis on offensive holding this season. Entering Thursday night, the highest total of holding penalties in a game was 11, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
In Weeks 1-2, there were 178 flags for offensive holding, a 66% increase from the same time period last season. That spike powered a 16.2% increase in total penalties compared to Weeks 1-2 of last season, as well as a slight drop in scoring from 21.97 offensive points per game in 2018 to 20.9 in 2019.