Rule Reference Question - OPI on try

[Cobra]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

It doesn't necessarily hold that the defender is going to get a sack on the play.

Besides, if it's 2nd and 19 it makes sense for the defense to decline the penalty. If the player is brought down 9 yards behind the line of scrimmage, why tack a hold on top of it?

That is a good reason to keep it as it is. The basic spot is the end of the run so it would be 2nd and 19 or 1st and 29. Your way it would be 2nd and 19 or 1st and 20. Essentially it is a one yard penalty. If the blocker thinks he is going to give up a sack he might as well just hold the guy.

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Finally, previous spot enforcement works well in the other codes. 1st and 26 just means a punt in most HS games. It's too punitive. I don't expect everyone to agree, certainly, but it's just something I've thought for some time.

But the other codes give more of an advantage to the offense while NF rules remain more balanced. Read the part below from the Football Handbook, other rule codes allow the QB to throw the ball away and it woks ok for them, but it is just another way of favoring the offense. I prefer the NF way.

When the defensive team forces a passer into a position from which he cannot safely deliver the ball to an eligible teammate and he is unable to escape the defensive confinement, the defensive team has accomplished its objective. If the passer is permitted to intentionally incomplete a forward pass without penalty, except for the immediate “spiking,” and thus avoid loss of yardage, the official by his poor judgment or lack of it, has taken away an advantage which was fairly earned.