NE vs Colts safety

[APG]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Why the different ruling if the defense never gained possession in either?

If the ball is at or nearly at rest, and the defense muffs (defined as touching of a loose ball by a player in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain possession of it) the ball and sends the ball into touch into the opponent's endzone, they have provided the impetus which sent the ball into touch. And a touchback is defined as such:

A Touchback is the situation in which a ball is dead on or behind a team’s own goal line, provided the impetus came from an opponent and provided it is not a touchdown (11-6).

In the second situation, since the ball is not at or nearly at rest, even though the defense muffs the ball and send it into touch (into the endzone), the offense is still responsible for the impetus of the ball. As such, it would be a safety. And a safety is defined as:

A Safety is the situation in which the ball is dead on or behind a team’s own goal line provided:

(a) the impetus (3-15-3) came from a player of that team;
(b) it is not a touchdown (11-2).