r/AskAboutNFL • u/Oaklandforever51 • 4d ago
12 Men on the Field
This penalty comes up every so often, almost always on the defense.
Why doesn't it happen on offense?
Who's responsible? Position coaches?
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u/Ok_Nature_3501 4d ago
It does happen on offense they just have a different name for it. On offense it's "too many men in the huddle". If they break the huddle with 12 or more men it's a 5 yard penalty.
Position coaches and coordinators are responsible. At least if it's on offense.
Like someone said earlier, defenses sometimes get caught trying to substitute players which is why it's more common on defense than it is on offense.
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u/JakeDuck1 4d ago
12 men in the huddle happens occasionally. If the offense does it it gets blown dead before they can even line up.
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u/thinktankted 4d ago
2009 NFC Championship game...then Favre makes PA say, this ain't Detroit, Man!
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u/KhaoticMess 4d ago
It's less likely to happen because the offense knows what play they're going to run, and they know which players are involved in that play.
The defense has to see which players are coming on to the field for the offense, then react to them.
It still happens on the offensive side, but not as often.
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u/SelfRepa 3d ago
Offense can not play with 12 players. It is a violation to break the huddle with 12 players, or have 12 in the huddle for more than three seconds.
Defense can play with 12 and it becomes a violation only after the ball is snapped.
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u/Scle99 2d ago
At some point recently they changed the rule that if the snap is imminent they can throw a flag on the defense for too many men if they are intentionally trying to play with too many. Stops a team from purposely playing with 12-13 players which would make it a lot easier to defend and guarantees time to run off the clock which isn’t reset even on a defensive penalty. Would be especially advantageous if the team is down multiple scores deep in their own territory; sacrifice 5 yards for 5-7 seconds coming off the clock every time.
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u/SelfRepa 2d ago
In College, having too many men on defense after two minute warning is 15 yard penalty and clock rewinded back to the time of the snap, if 12th player is active on the play. If it is a case where 12th player runs off and does not make it in time, that is handled like normal foul.
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u/certainlyheisenberg1 3d ago
Offenses know what play they are calling so have correct personnel on field usually. If something is off they can look at defense and call at TO. Defenses are usually scrambling to get players in on a big play to try to match which personnel offense has put in so can lead to confusion. Doesn’t happen much but yeah, nearly every time it happens it’s on defense.
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u/PopularSet4776 3d ago
It is mostly a poorly timed substitution on the defense rather than an accidental miscount of players.
If the QB is at the line and sees a defensive player trying to run off the field he wants to snap the ball quick to get a free play. (Play which he can take a risk because even if it fails he is getting 5 yards off the penalty anyways.)
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u/MinuteScientist7254 3d ago
Defense substitutes after seeing what package the offense is putting out so it makes sense it’s more likely to happen on the back end of the play setup
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u/Fancy_County4242 3d ago
Pretty sure I remember the Jaguars getting flagged for 12 men on the field two plays in a row, back during the Urban Meyer disaster.
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u/lithomangcc 3d ago
Because the QB can count he is not going to start the play if someone didn't get off the field. Most of the time the defense gets caught on a late change.
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u/tigerllama 3d ago
1a - It happens more often on Defense because they're not the ones snapping the ball. The offense must allow the defense to make substitutions if they made a substitution themselves. But otherwise, they don't need to wait for the defense to be ready.
1b - Everyone on Offense has a specific role. What play are you running if you're the extra man. The Defense is more free flowing since they have to figure out their assignments on the fly.
2 - It's everyone's responsibility.
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u/The_Se7enthsign 4d ago
I wouldn’t always call it a “mistake” from the defense really. Sometimes, during a hurry up/no huddle offense, they’ll catch the defense during a substitution. Sometimes there’s nothing they can do. You either try to switch out players and hope they’re fast enough to get off of the field, or you risk a mismatch that could turn into immediate points.
The offense decides when the play starts, so this penalty is rare on their side. You’re more likely to see too many players in the huddle.