Rules Quiz
Tough quiz: 7 calls you may never see in NFL (but how would you rule?)
4th-and-17 from the B33. Team A kicks a 50-yard field goal (ball spotted at the 40-yard line), and Player B1, standing in bounds underneath the uprights, times a jump to knock away the ball which would have gone through the uprights. Player B1 does not touch the uprights and lands back in bounds. The ball bounces out of bounds in the end zone and never goes through the uprights. What is the call and what are the two options for spotting the ball?
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7. Goaltending foul
Just as in basketball, football has a goaltending foul. The kicking team has two options: (1) take a field goal awarded as a palpably unfair act, or (2) take the 15-yard foul from the line of scrimmage and an automatic first down (1st-and-10 from the B18). If they chose to take the field goal, the 15-yard penalty is not carried forward to the kickoff, because the penalty is “used up” to award the score.
There have been instances of players leaping from under the goalposts, but since no one has yet contacted the ball, no goaltending foul has been assessed.
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