Man, you won’t believe the rabbit hole I went down today. I was watching some football, as one does, and I started wondering, “Just how often do they call offensive offsides?” I mean, it seems like every game, right? So I did what any sane person would do and started digging.
First, I hit up some of the usual sports sites, but they didn’t have exactly what I was looking for. Mostly just articles about specific games and stuff. Then, I started poking around the official NFL statistics. Now, this is where it gets interesting.
It turns out, offensive offsides are actually a thing, and they’ve been getting called way more this year. Last season, it was only flagged twice. This year? It is going crazy. We’re talking 13 times already! I found out some players that got called twice last year, which is Jalen Tolbert of the Dallas Cowboys and Chris Olave of the New Orleans Saints, I don’t know who they are.
I even found this one blog, where a guy was talking about how it’s mostly due to teams trying to get an edge on those “tush push” plays, and the refs are cracking down on it. This play is getting popular, so the offensive offsides calls are going up like crazy. It’s like the refs are trying to send a message or something.
I spent a good chunk of my afternoon trying to find some sort of pattern. Here’s what I ended up with.
- 2021: Almost no offensive offsides called. Maybe just one time.
- 2022: A little bit more, with two penalties.
- 2023: Boom! We’re already at 13, and the season isn’t even over yet.
- 2009 to 2024: I don’t even know, I just found the data, it must have been hundreds of calls.
So, what’s the deal? Are players getting sloppier? Are the refs getting stricter? Is it all because of this “tush push” thing? I don’t know, but it’s definitely something I’m gonna keep an eye on. It’s like this little mystery unfolding in the middle of every game.
Conclusion
This whole thing just goes to show you, there’s always something new to learn about football, even for an old-timer like me. I’m gonna be paying a lot more attention to those offensive line guys from now on, that’s for sure.
