Quote:
Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.
FED RULES
3rd and 10 at A35. A1 receives the snap and rolls right towards L. Under heavy pressure he throws the ball at the feet of A88 who is within the expanded neutral zone. B99 renews his charge and levels defenseless A1 just after the ball strikes the ground. The timeframe from release to incompletion to contact is around a second.
What do you got? How would it change if it were 4th down? Who contributes what to the conversation R, U, L, BJ?
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With the usual caveat of "gotta see it":
I expect a flag for grounding would be VERY difficult to justify here. QB is under pressure & throwing on the run; the ball was at an eligible receiver. Even at short range, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume a misfire rather than intent.
By your use of the phrase "renews his charge", I presume you feel this qualifies for roughing. Despite the fact that the ball may have hit the ground a fraction of a second before the illegal contact, I would say this is sufficiently bang-bang to call roughing anyway. Should you disagree, it should still be a "regular" personal foul, which in this case yields a first down anyway.
If it's 4th down, then it makes a big difference which way you call it. Roughing is a live-ball foul with an automatic first down. The other way, it's a dead-ball personal foul that results in a turnover on downs before enforcing the penalty. In my mind, this should be roughing unless it's blatantly obvious to everybody in the stadium that the ball hit well before the contact.
This is R's primary call. Any of L, U, or B could have the information that the ball hit the ground before the contact occurred. If R comes up with a grounding flag on his own, L should inform him that there was an eligible receiver in the immediate vicinity.