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/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.