Way to intentionally ground legally?

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by NJOfficial

I think this is an interesting potential loophole in the intentional grounding rule, namely 9-5-2d, which states that "a pass intentionally thrown into an area not occupied by an eligible offensive receiver" is illegal. The argument seems valid that the pass is in fact being thrown to an eligible offensive receiver, namely the QB himself.

However, I think that, despite having an eligible receiver "in the area," we should consider this to be a pass "intentionally thrown incomplete to save loss of yardage," which should be ruled as intentional grounding.

But it wasn't thrown incomplete, it was intentionally batted down by the receiver, and we allow receivers to intentionally ground passes. It so happens that the passer and the receiver in this case are the same person. (And I was thinking of this not only to save yardage, but to conserve time.)