JPL7 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Can someone please explain to me whats the point of having the no intentional grounding rule when the qb is out of the tackle box?? ive always wanted to know. it seems like it gives QB's an easy out when they are scrambling. i honestly dont see any reasoning behind it. anyone know? Furthermore why is there a yardage penalty as well as loss of down imposed for intentional grounding, but not when the QB spikes the ball to stop the clock? thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huuuge Bills Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Can someone please explain to me whats the point of having the no intentional grounding rule when the qb is out of the tackle box?? ive always wanted to know. it seems like it gives QB's an easy out when they are scrambling. i honestly dont see any reasoning behind it. anyone know? Furthermore why is there a yardage penalty as well as loss of down imposed for intentional grounding, but not when the QB spikes the ball to stop the clock? thanks in advance Probably to protect the quarterbacks. If the QB is off on the sideline with no play available to him, the last thing the league wants is for him to take unnecessary hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Can someone please explain to me whats the point of having the no intentional grounding rule when the qb is out of the tackle box?? ive always wanted to know. it seems like it gives QB's an easy out when they are scrambling. i honestly dont see any reasoning behind it. anyone know? Just trying to keep QB's healthy by giving them an avenue to get rid of the ball and protect themselves when scrambling. Nothing more. Furthermore why is there a yardage penalty as well as loss of down imposed for intentional grounding, but not when the QB spikes the ball to stop the clock? thanks in advance Because when you're spiking the ball to stop the clock you're not under any pressure. Grounding is a penalty because you're trying to avoid taking a sack, there is no attempt to avoid a sack when spiking it and therefore no loss of yardage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justnzane Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Can someone please explain to me whats the point of having the no intentional grounding rule when the qb is out of the tackle box?? ive always wanted to know. it seems like it gives QB's an easy out when they are scrambling. i honestly dont see any reasoning behind it. anyone know? Furthermore why is there a yardage penalty as well as loss of down imposed for intentional grounding, but not when the QB spikes the ball to stop the clock? thanks in advance the rationale behind it is that a QB has some protection by throwing the ball away instead of getting crushed while scrambling. The definition of intentional grounding is to throw the ball away when facing pressure, so when you spike the ball, it is not gounding because you are spiking the ball to stop the clock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Probably to protect the quarterbacks. If the QB is off on the sideline with no play available to him, the last thing the league wants is for him to take unnecessary hits. Yup...and kind of a strange inconstancy in the rules...especially the ability to spike the ball in the final two minutes. To tell you the truth, intentional grounding is so poorly called/enforced and is so completely a subjective judgment call (when a guy is getting hit, is it the hit that causes the bad pass, or is he chucking it?) I actually support dumping the rule. I know that wouldn't be a popular decision, as it would minimize the importance of sacks...but, so what? An incomplete pass is a loss of down...that's good enough for me. Trying to judge if the incompletion is intentional (but letting passes clearly out of bounds/end zone go uncalled, the exception for outside the tackle box and spikes, etc) seems to be more than NFL officials can handle with any consistency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 they are protecting the QB's by allowing them to throw the ball away when outside the tackle box, which in most cases means they are trying to scramble away from pressure after the pocket has broken down. What would you rather have, the QB getting nailed by a 300 lb lineman because he has to stop and set his feet to throw the ball "near" a player on his team, allowing the opposing lineman to pancake him into the ground from behind? There's a way to make the NFL less popular---make sure all the backup QB's play... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Yup...and kind of a strange inconstancy in the rules...especially the ability to spike the ball in the final two minutes. To tell you the truth, intentional grounding is so poorly called/enforced and is so completely a subjective judgment call (when a guy is getting hit, is it the hit that causes the bad pass, or is he chucking it?) I actually support dumping the rule. I know that wouldn't be a popular decision, as it would minimize the importance of sacks...but, so what? An incomplete pass is a loss of down...that's good enough for me. Trying to judge if the incompletion is intentional (but letting passes clearly out of bounds/end zone go uncalled, the exception for outside the tackle box and spikes, etc) seems to be more than NFL officials can handle with any consistency. I have no problem with the rule as it is...I mean its pretty obvious when the QB is trying to just throw the ball to avoid a sack, especially when there are no offensive players anywhere near the ball... with that kind of logic, how can the refs call anything subjective? All penalties shouldn't be called because they are all judgment calls.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I have no problem with the rule as it is...I mean its pretty obvious when the QB is trying to just throw the ball to avoid a sack, especially when there are no offensive players anywhere near the ball... with that kind of logic, how can the refs call anything subjective? All penalties shouldn't be called because they are all judgment calls.... Officials call about 15% (wild guestimate) of intentional groundings, as penalties, IMO, and do so with very little consistency. I suppose the same could be said about offensive holding. There are just too many variables to have a rule that gets called properly, most of the time. Just IMO, and I understand that most people don't seem to feel that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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