Enforcement on the punt return that never was

[InsideTheStripe]

Originally Posted by AllPurposeGamer

If you listen to the announcement, the penalty was announced as a hold that occurred during the return. In that case, it would have been a spot enforcement using the 3 and 1 philosophy. Looking back at the play-by-play on NFL.com, the "hold" occurred at the 20 and the new series started on the 10.

Now if they were actually calling the hold for the contact which you refer to, it would have been a post-possession foul and penalized half the distance to the goal from the end of the kick, first and 10 at the 5.5.

I'm just confused by the whole thing. I heard the announcement, but the flag was in the air before Knox caught the ball. It COULDN'T have been thrown for a foul that occurred "during the return". The only player engaged with an opponent around the 20 yard line was Zack Bowman who was outside the opposite hash. It seems unlikely that the side judge would flag that (especially before it occurred).