Enforcement of defensive holding- NFL
 

This one is driving me nuts because no matter how much I look this one up I have yet to find an explanation, even in the NFL rule book.

Routinely, I'll see a 5 yard defensive holding added to the end of a positive play rather than simply declined like any defensive offside or other minor defensive penalty would be.

Yet, this doesn't happen every time. At the end of a long play by the Steelers tonight, a 5 yard defensive holding was declined rather than added to the end of the run.

I can find nothing anywhere stating that a defensive holding penalty is unique in any way in this fashion.

It depends on if it happens during a running play or passing play. If it happens during a running play, it is tacked on to the end of the run. If it happens during a passing play, it has to be enforced from the previous spot.

If during a pass play...enforcement is from the previous spot. If during a running play, it's tacked on from the end of the run (if the play doesn't end behind the LOS).