Question regarding the declining of Delay of Game penalties...

[Buffalo Beeeews]

On a non-Bills football Sunday, tuning into Sunday Ticket, i watched a few games yesterday when the punt team would intentionally try to take a delay of game penalty, giving the punter more room to pin the receiving team back toward its own endzone. The receiving team is then given the option to decline, which they did every single time yesterday.

 

This got me thinking about the Detroit vs Atlanta game in London a few weeks ago. If you recall (if you were ready for football at 9:30 am on this day and watched), the Lions lined up for a field goal. As the kicker lined up and swung his leg, the refs blew the whistle for delay of game.

 

The Lions kicker missed the initial kick, and Falcons coach Mike Smith was informed by the officiating crew that we could not decline this penalty. The Lions thus got another chance, and this time the kicker was true.

 

Just curious on what the difference is? Doesnt make a whole lot of sense if you ask me. And, yes, after the Bills game last Thursday, i am nitpicking at everything these officials are calling and not calling. Because the consistency is historically abysmal this year. Thanks and Go Bills!

[MRW]

There are 2 components to delay of game - one, there is no play at all, so no result, good or bad, counts, and two, the offending team gets a five-yard penalty. It's inaccurate to say it can't be declined - it's more accurate to say that the play was aborted when the penalty was called, so nothing actually happened.

 

In the case of the punting situation, the punting team isn't trying to run a play, so the first part of it doesn't matter.

[Tommy]

Just to play off what MRW said: Since there was a delay of game in the Lions game for the field goal attempt, there are only two outcomes: 1) Accept the penalty and the Lions retry from 5 yards further back, and 2) Decline the penalty and the Lions retry from the same spot. So technically you could decline it, but since the Lions get to retry the field goal either way (since the delay of game results in a dead ball....the fact that the kicker still kicked the ball is irrelevant), you would obviously always accept to push them back 5 yards. When receiving a punt, you don't want to give the punter more room so you decline the penalty to make them punt from the same spot.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Tommy

[Rubes]

To paraphrase: a delay-of-game penalty is called a "dead ball foul," which means the game stops before the ball is snapped. So in the case of the Lions FG attempt, the delay of game nullified anything that happened after the ball was snapped -- the missed FG basically never occurred. So there was no play that could be accepted.

 

Same goes for the punting situation -- once the delay of game is called, there is no punt, no play that could be accepted. It's either accept the penalty or decline the penalty, and replay the down.

[ICanSleepWhenI'mDead]

. . . i watched a few games yesterday when the punt team would intentionally try to take a delay of game penalty, giving the punter more room to pin the receiving team back toward its own endzone. The receiving team is then given the option to decline, which they did every single time yesterday. . . .

1. I always wondered why the punting team didn't tell one of its linemen to intentionally false start, rather than just having the punter stand there without any urgency to get the ball snapped. When the punter just stands there and is obviously not trying to get the ball snapped, everybody in the stadium knows that the punting team wants the 5 yard penalty. If you have an O-lineman false start, look disgusted with himself or better yet point at a D-lineman, and get yelled at by a coach, maybe the receiving team accepts the penalty.

 

2. I also wonder why coaches don't have the punter commit the obvious delay of game penalty, wait for the receiving team to predictably decline it, and THEN run a fake punt. Seems like it would increase the deception about your intentions to fake the punt with very little chance that the 5 yards would be walked off before the fake.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

The announcers stated it wrong, he could have declined the penalty, but ewither way Detroit is getting to run another play as it's a dead ball penalty so why not take the 5 yards too.