Quote:
Originally Posted by Welpe
The coach best knows if his punt return team is worth a damn or not. Maybe they aren't or the kick returner has hands made of butter and that having the ball period is a good option for them.
The fouls don't offset automatically and the decision is not obvious so I'm giving them an option in this case.
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I agree with this. There are pluses and minuses to either option so we need to present them to the team. There are times the options are obvious (i.e. false start, encroachment, hold by A on a TD run). There are times when it may be obvious but you still want to check. I see this as one of them.
I had a similar situation in a late round playoff game. K is ahead by 7 with 40 seconds left. 4th and 16 from the K44. K gets the punt off and it goes out of bounds around the R35. I have a hold on the LG (obvious take down at the LOS). I report it to the R but tell him I assume R will decline it because R will likely want the ball with no more time taken off the clock (they are out of timeouts). I pick up my flag and head downfield to get the ball ready for the next series. My R yells at me that R wants the penalty. I go to get a ball from the K sideline and they don't understand why R wants the penalty. I enforce the penalty at the K40 back to the K30. I realize that since crazy things can happen on punts it may not be a bad idea to accept the penalty. Guess what...K's next kick goes out of bounds at the K28! Smart move by the R coach. They gained over 30 yards on the play. They tied the game and won in OT. Situations we think are obvious aren't always obvious. Ask as clearly as possible.