What Is a Chop Block? NFL Combination Blocking Rule

A chop block is an illegal combination by offensive blockers against the same defender. The familiar version pairs a block above the waist with another at the thigh or lower. Every NFL chop block is prohibited and carries a 15 yard penalty.

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The useful starting question is not simply “Did someone block low?” It is “What was the other blocker doing to that defender?”

Contact need not be perfectly simultaneous

The NFL rule covers several sequences: high contact combined with low contact, a low hit while a former high blocker still confronts the defender, a blocker presenting a pass blocking posture as a teammate goes low, and a low block followed immediately by high contact.

Other listed combinations include a backfield player going low against a defender engaged high, and an offensive lineman going low after a teammate has already engaged the defender high or low. The full sequence matters more than one freeze frame.

For example, a guard has a defensive tackle occupied above the waist. A running back then cuts into that defender’s thigh. The second blocker has attacked the lower body of an already occupied defender: that is the classic chop.

Chop block versus cut block

A cut block describes one blocker going low. A chop describes a prohibited combination. A solo low block can still be illegal under other rules, but it is not automatically a chop.

Two linemen legally engaging a defender above the waist form an ordinary double team. Their cooperation is not itself a penalty. Conversely, the tackle box is not a safe zone that permits a chop block.

Other rules address different dangerous actions. Clipping concerns prohibited contact from behind at or below the waist, while the chop rule focuses on the combination against one defender.

An important exception to the shortcut

Incidental engagement when the defender initiates the high contact, or a blocker is merely escaping or slipping past, does not necessarily create a chop. Officials must establish the prohibited relationship between the blockers.

On replay, widen your view beyond the low hitter. Locate the second blocker, identify whether he is engaged or confronting the defender, and follow the timing of both actions.

Keep learning

Illegal crackback blocks: Compare a different restriction on blocks directed back toward the ball.

Blindside blocks: Learn why direction and contact technique matter.

Offensive holding: See when ordinary blocking becomes illegal restriction.

Browse the Football 101 collection for more rules and strategy guides.

Sources

2026 NFL Rulebook, Rule 12, Section 2, Article 5. NFL rules reviewed October 10, 2026.