2 Questions about KO's inspired by NE/Balt game

[Bob M.]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

The only thing I could think is they could enforce it half the distance to the goal. Even that would be slightly better than the 20. It would have been a good strategy by NE to try to kick it out of bounds around the 5.

REPLY: Just be careful...awarding the receivers the ball 30 yards in advance of the kick is not an award of penalty yardage. It's simply the designation of a succeeding spot. So the "half-the-distance" rule doesn't apply. Think of it this way--awarding penalty yardage always moves the ball closer to the offending team's goal line. This enforcement moves the ball closer to the offended tream's goal line. That's an indication that we're not awarding penalty yardage here.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by Bob M.

REPLY: Just be careful...awarding the receivers the ball 30 yards in advance of the kick is not an award of penalty yardage. It's simply the designation of a succeeding spot. So the "half-the-distance" rule doesn't apply. Think of it this way--awarding penalty yardage always moves the ball closer to the offending team's goal line. This enforcement moves the ball closer to the offended tream's goal line. That's an indication that we're not awarding penalty yardage here.

Thanks. My comment was more of a question than a statement and your point is valid. Try to kick it out at the 5 and you are in great shape either way.

[RoyGardner]

If they kick it OB inside the 10, I'd have them re-kick 5 yards back. The chances they could do that twice are slim and none.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by RoyGardner

If they kick it OB inside the 10, I'd have them re-kick 5 yards back. The chances they could do that twice are slim and none.

According to the rule above, that is not one of their choices. It's either 30 yards from the free kick line or the spot it went out of bounds (unless it's determined to be an onside kick). The 5-yard re-kick is a high school option though.