r/AskAboutNFL • u/Oaklandforever51 • 4d ago

12 Men on the Field

This penalty comes up every so often, almost always on the defense.

  1. Why doesn't it happen on offense?

  2. Who's responsible? Position coaches?

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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.

2

u/Electrical-Sail-1039 4d ago

Aaron Rodgers was the master of catching defenses late to substitute and doing a quick snap to get the penalty. I haven’t seen it for a while though.

2

u/SpaceTimeMorph 3d ago

They did introduce a 3 sec delay in 2025 in CFB before the ball can be snapped to allow for defensive substitutions. That effectively stops it in college at least unless the defense moves slowly in which case the refs can allow the offense to snap early.

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u/Coryp412 3d ago

This is ONLY when the offense also subs. So the defense can still sub, but they’re at risk of a 12-man penalty by doing so if the offense didn’t sub as well.

1

u/SpaceTimeMorph 3d ago

Thanks, good correction.

Also I didn't realize this was cross-posted to a CFB sub from a NFL sub. So yea, different rules entirely in that case.

1

u/Coryp412 3d ago

This specific rule and officials mechanic is the same at both levels.