[Rain Man]

I've never thought about this before, but it's interesting that all penalties for the most part are paid in yardage and downs.

If you have a personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct, both of which affect player safety and/or the reputation of the sport, it seems like teams should have a choice. Take the penalty in yards or put the offending player in a penalty box for a while to cool down and mature.

What would be an appropriate penalty box time for for a run of the mill personal foul like the ones the Broncos commit ten times a game?

And would you measure it in plays or clock time or something else? It's a little complicated due to the nature of football having specialized offensive, defensive, and special teams units.

It seems like the penalties should be measured in either plays or drives. In this case, the Panthers could take a 1 yard penalty or they could put Talib in the penalty box for two offensive drives or 10 defensive plays or something like that.