Method · bailout_flag@v1

Bailout flag

The four defensive penalties that hand an offense a new set of downs it did not earn: pass interference, roughing the passer, defensive holding, and illegal contact. Counted per 100 dropbacks so teams that throw more are not flattered.

The filter, exactly as it runs

penalty = 1 AND penalty_team = defteam AND penalty_type IN ( 'Defensive Pass Interference', 'Roughing the Passer', 'Defensive Holding', 'Illegal Contact' )

Where this is arguable

A quarterback who runs draws fewer of these, because a scramble gives a defender less time to commit one. Some of the gap between a pocket passer and a runner is style rather than treatment, and this cannot separate the two.
Counting flags says nothing about whether each one was correct. A team that draws few may simply be playing cleaner opponents.
Pass interference is a spot foul, so one flag can be worth fifty yards while another is worth five. Counting them equally understates the variance.

These are the objections I already know about. If you have a better one, or you think a different threshold tells a truer story, say so and I will re-run it with your numbers and publish what comes back.

Version 1. Older versions are never deleted, so a piece that citesbailout_flag@v1 stays reproducible after this definition is revised. Source: Data: nflverse (nflfastR), CC-BY 4.0