Brady intentional grounding penalty and the state of NFL officiating

[70Dart]

My entire life I have misunderstood IG. I thought at any point as long as the ball got out of bounds it was safely throwing it away. That's why you see QB's chucking it into the stands. Reading the actual written rule there is nothing about getting it out of bounds until the QB breaks the pocket. I wouldn't have called it in either situation because it went out the back of the end zone but if I am reading this right it's about the immediate threat of losing yards not where it ends up. Learn something new everyday

Apparently I misunderstood it as well. I always thought the ball had to be within 10 yards of a receiver too.I have heard the commentators say that , so I don't know why that stuck in my head like it did.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

My entire life I have misunderstood IG. I thought at any point as long as the ball got out of bounds it was safely throwing it away. That's why you see QB's chucking it into the stands. Reading the actual written rule there is nothing about getting it out of bounds until the QB breaks the pocket. I wouldn't have called it in either situation because it went out the back of the end zone but if I am reading this right it's about the immediate threat of losing yards not where it ends up. Learn something new everyday

Apparently I misunderstood it as well. I always thought the ball had to be within 10 yards of a receiver too.I have heard the commentators say that , so I don't know why that stuck in my head like it did.

At the end of the day, the NFL is trying to balance fair play with injury avoidance. The idea is that a QB shouldn't be allowed to avoid a sack by just flicking the ball away at the last moment. That's not fair to the defense who is about to sack the QB. The penalty for intentional grounding pretty much mimics what would have happened had the sack occurred instead.

A QB who is not under pressure who throws the ball away isn't avoiding anything. It's akin to any other player (or even the QB) just taking a knee at the line of scrimmage. So why would that player need to be penalized? No fair play issue here.

That said, they also put in the "outside of the tackle" rule. I think that exception is in place to 1) encourage QBs to scramble away from sacks and not just take them / get injured, 2) when a QB does scramble he is often subject to a potential wicked hit from a 270+ pound defender coming at him from the side at full steam, so this is to avoid a real major injury situation.

 

[70Dart]

At the end of the day, the NFL is trying to balance fair play with injury avoidance. The idea is that a QB shouldn't be allowed to avoid a sack by just flicking the ball away at the last moment. That's not fair to the defense who is about to sack the QB. The penalty for intentional grounding pretty much mimics what would have happened had the sack occurred instead.

A QB who is not under pressure who throws the ball away isn't avoiding anything. It's akin to any other player (or even the QB) just taking a knee at the line of scrimmage. So why would that player need to be penalized? No fair play issue here.

That said, they also put in the "outside of the tackle" rule. I think that exception is in place to 1) encourage QBs to scramble away from sacks and not just take them / get injured, 2) when a QB does scramble he is often subject to a potential wicked hit from a 270+ pound defender coming at him from the side at full steam, so this is to avoid a real major injury situation.

Agreed on all counts, but a smart QB knows when to slide to avoid that big hit. There are a few out there you look at and think "What the hell were you thinking not sliding"..lol

 

[The Gr8est]

At the end of the day, the NFL is trying to balance fair play with injury avoidance.

We're you able to keep a straight face while writing that?

 

[Hammer of Thor]

We're you able to keep a straight face while writing that?

I'll say this -- that's one rule that's been unchanged by Goodell, Polian, and his goons, so it's probably as fair as you're going to see nowadays! Enforcing it (i.e. Super Bowl 46) is where you get to see Mr. Integrity in action.....

 

[luuked]

My entire life I have misunderstood IG. I thought at any point as long as the ball got out of bounds it was safely throwing it away. That's why you see QB's chucking it into the stands. Reading the actual written rule there is nothing about getting it out of bounds until the QB breaks the pocket. I wouldn't have called it in either situation because it went out the back of the end zone but if I am reading this right it's about the immediate threat of losing yards not where it ends up. Learn something new everyday

Nothing to feel bad about. e.g. you wont believe how many still don't understand what deferring means.

Most people think it means that you choose to receive in the second half when in fact it means you just choose to defer the choice of kickoff/receive/field direction to the second half and let the other team choose first.

This is also the reason why we couldn't just chose the other field direction when the Broncos deferred otherwise they would have elected to receive the ball in both halves.

I remember a couple of people in the live gamethread being angry that we were playing into the sun even though the Broncos deferred.

 

[pazrul72]

Nothing to feel bad about. e.g. you wont believe how many still don't understand what deferring means.

Most people think it means that you choose to receive in the second half when in fact it means you just choose to defer the choice of kickoff/receive/field direction to the second half and let the other team choose first.

This is also the reason why we couldn't just chose the other field direction when the Broncos deferred otherwise they would have elected to receive the ball in both halves.

I remember a couple of people in the live gamethread being angry that we were playing into the sun even though the Broncos deferred.

That's cuz most of the people in the game day thread, from my understanding as I never go there, are morons who just want to rant and rave. "Bench Brady and put Grop in" is one of the stupidest things I have ever read and the person who said it should be banned. That said there is no shame admitting to having learned something. My knowledge of the rule had come from watching games and seeing QB's chuck it 30 yards into the stands so I figured anything OOB was fair game. Turns out it's not that it went OOB it's that the QB wasn't under immediate threat of loss of yards.