play
Spears: Cowboys' penalty issues all on Mike McCarthy (1:05)

Mike McCarthy's responsibilities as head coach to decrease the number of penalties the Cowboys have racked up is something Marcus Spears thinks about. Affirmative.

9:44 AM ET

The first week of the preseason saw an increase in the number of flags thrown for illegal contact.

The total is based on an analysis of the week's play-by-play logs. There were only 36 flags thrown for illegal contact for the entire season. The average between 2002 and 2020 was 97.

When the quarterback is still in the pocket, illegal contact can occur. An automatic first down is achieved because of a 5-yard Penalty.

The NFL's competition committee decided to include illegal contact in its points of clarification for the 2022.

The wording of this year's illegal contact instructions may lead to a spike in flags, as was the case after the two previous points of emphasis for the foul, according to league sources. The number of flags for illegal contact rose in the year. They increased from 78 in 2003 to 191 in 2004.