Head Slap Penalty in NFL Explained as Derek Barnett’s Foul vs Cowboys Leaves Fans Perplexed

An officiating decision in the Houston Texans-Dallas Cowboys Monday Night Football game sent fans into a social media frenzy.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a missed or errant call that drew attention. Instead, it was a rarely-seen, correctly assessed foul that had people flocking to their cell phone keyboards.

In the third quarter, Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey drilled a 64-yard field goal to cut Dallas’ deficit to seven points (20-13). However, a head slap penalty on Texans’ defender Derek Barnett gifted the Cowboys an automatic first down.

Most Twitter/X users, like the one above, had never witnessed a head slap penalty before. The rule surrounding head slaps appears in Rule 12, Section 2, Article 10 of the NFL rulebook.

“It is a foul if a player: A) lowers his head and makes forcible contact with his helmet against an opponent; or B) uses any part of his helmet or facemask to butt or make forcible contact to an opponent’s head or neck. These provisions do not prohibit incidental contact by the mask or the helmet in the course of a conventional tackle or block on an opponent.

Penalty: Loss of 15 yards. If the foul is by the defense, it is also an automatic first down. The player may be disqualified.”

Many analysts say Hall of Fame defensive lineman Deacon Jones introduced the head slap to the NFL. The league banned the move in 1977. Both casual viewers and former players don’t recall seeing the penalty occur in recent history.

The infraction actually ended up benefitting Houston. Dallas elected to accept the penalty instead of taking the three points from Aubrey’s kick.

They ended up turning the ball over on downs and didn’t score again the rest of the game. The Texans improved to 7-3 via the 34-10 result. The Cowboys dropped to 3-7 with the loss.