The NFL replay system does not get involved with judgment of penalty calls with a few exceptions. The penalties that are reviewable by replay are illegal forward pass from beyond the line of scrimmage, illegal touching of a forward pass by an ineligible receiver and twelve men on the field by either team.
Can you explain the penalty that occurred on the Oakland punt vs. Dallas at the end of the first half? Oakland punted the ball and No. 86 (Randal Williams) downed it, but was called for illegal touching. If I would guess, I would say it was because they used a strange formation to protect the punter (five down linemen, with three backs behind the line, and two WRs split out). Does this mean one of the WRs isn’t legal to down the ball … and if so which one? — Matthew Furtek, Springfield, Va.
Formations used by kicking teams have no bearing on illegal touching. The rule states that “No player of the kicking team may illegally touch a scrimmage kick before it has been touched by a receiving team player.” Any player on the kicking team can be guilty of illegal touching, regardless of where he lines up at the snap. The only restriction that the kicking team must follow is that only the widest man on the field may advance beyond the line at the snap while the others must wait until the ball is actually kicked.
EDITOR’S NOTE — We got confused as to the difference between illegal touching and downing the ball, but Jerry cleared it up by saying there really isn’t any difference. Downing the ball is illegal touching, and the officials signal it the same way, with hands to the shoulders. But it’s a foul that carries no consequence; the receiving team just takes possession at the point of the foul. On a punt that bounces into the end zone, though, it’s a touchback and the ball comes out to the 20. But here’s an interesting kicker — if a ball is illegally touched at the 25-yard line and goes into the end zone, the receiving team could choose to take the ball at the 25 ?- the site of the infraction.
Can you explain the ruling of interception on this play from the Colts-Titans game? The situation was this: The receiver and defender both leave their feet to go after a pass. The receiver catches the ball while in the air. The two players make contact in the air, causing the receiver to twist. After the catch, the receiver first makes contact with the ground again on his back, which causes the ball to be jarred loose and pop into the air. The defender grabs the ball out of the air and is downed. I thought the ground couldn’t cause a turnover after contact from a defender. — Greg Simmons, Chicago
To complete a catch, the receiver must come down inbounds with the ball in his possession and hold onto it after contacting the ground. In your play, the catch has not been completed, which means that the loose ball is not a fumble, but part of the pass. When the ball bounces off of the intended receiver, the defender grabbing the ball out of the air is an interception and the defense gets the football. The ground cannot cause a fumble; however, this play was not a fumble.
Jerry, I appreciate you taking the time to do answer these questions. Monday evening in Charlotte against the Packers, there was a new call of ‘unnecessary roughness’ when the defense apparently grabbed the runner by the shoulder pads in the back. Is this a new ruling and does it apply on the line? — Dick, Charlotte, N.C.
The unnecessary roughness that you refer to is called a “horse collar” tackle. The rule states that “All players are prohibited from grabbing the inside collar of the back or the inside collar of the side of the shoulder pads and immediately pulling down the runner.” This does not apply to a runner who is in the tackle box or to a quarterback who is in the pocket. The tackle box is an imaginary rectangle that extends from the outside shoulder of one tackle to the outside shoulder of the other tackle. Thanks for your nice comment.
With the score tied, team A punts from their own 5-yard line as time expires in the fourth quarter. Team B makes a fair catch at Team A’s 40-yard-line. Team A is flagged for illegal man downfield. Under this year’s new rules, can Team B elect to take an untimed down at Team A’s 35-yard-line? If so, can they attempt a fair-catch kick from there to win the game? — Liam Feldman, Austin, Texas
You are correct. The receiving team can elect to take the 5-yard penalty from the end of the kick, which is the spot of the fair catch. That leaves the ball on the kicking team’s 35-yard line. When a fair catch is made, the captain has two choices: A fair catch kick (drop kick or place kick without a tee, which must be made on or behind the spot of the fair catch) or a snap of the ball for a regular scrimmage play. If a fair catch kick is selected, the defensive team cannot get any closer to the kick than the 10-yard restraining area, which is the same as a free kick kickoff after a score.
When a runner is about to be tackled and he stiff-arms and grabs the
facemask of a defensive player, why is no foul called? — John Mat, Knox, Ind.
A runner can legally stiff-arm a potential tackler in the facemask. He cannot, however, grasp the facemask of a defensive player to avoid being tackled. A 15-yard facemask foul will be called on the runner in the second situation.
