Case Book Question

[Warrenkicker]

I decided not to post on Friday when it would have been about the 4th post in this thread as I wondered if some rule had changed but I had forgotten it.

An IW during a scrimmage kick where there is a foul by R that would usually qualify as a PSK foul is the absolute worst time for the IW. The kick did not end. We don't have a PSK spot. We have an IW spot. We must enforce the foul as a loose-ball play and go to the previous spot. K has a very good chance of making the first down and keeping the ball all due to the fact that we screwed up.

Only bad things happen with IWs and even this foul can't save us. If fact it makes things twice as bad.

[dumbref]

Originally Posted by Warrenkicker

I decided not to post on Friday when it would have been about the 4th post in this thread as I wondered if some rule had changed but I had forgotten it.

An IW during a scrimmage kick where there is a foul by R that would usually qualify as a PSK foul is the absolute worst time for the IW. The kick did not end. We don't have a PSK spot. We have an IW spot. We must enforce the foul as a loose-ball play and go to the previous spot. K has a very good chance of making the first down and keeping the ball all due to the fact that we screwed up.

Only bad things happen with IWs and even this foul can't save us. If fact it makes things twice as bad.

I agree, the absolute worst time possible time for an IW. But the fact is the kick did end with the IW and more than likely the PSK spot is the same as the IW. It will not be the easiest or most accurate spot granted – but an enforcement spot.

The problem with previous spot is K holds all the cards and will very likely be awarded a first down through an official’s mistake when their intent was to give up the ball. They may still accept the penalty, they just are not as significantly reward as under the old interpretation. If they do not like the out come of the enforcement they can decline the penalty and replay the down under the IW provision.

IMHO the verbiage was always there to come to this conclusion and has been wrong since PSK was added to NF rules.

[Bullycon]

The PSK criterion that states "K is not next to put the ball in play" was surely included to capture those occasions where there was a change of possession after the kick. It's pretty safe to assume it was not intended to cover this scenario.

I agree that by letter of the rule, we go back to the previous spot and enforce from there. But this is in no way consistent with the spirit of the rule, or the virtue of fair play.

Let common sense apply. (In soccer, we called this Law 18. Maybe we can call it Rule 11.) If the penalty is accepted, penalize from the end of the kick, where the ball was when the whistle sounded. If declined, replay the down.