Week 11 officiating video: Kick catch interference, illegal touching, and penalty enforcement

Senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron released the week 11 officiating video this weekend. In it he covered:

Kick catch interference: In a play during the first quarter of the Jaguars at Browns game, the Jaguars punted and during the kick before the catch, a Jaguars defender appeared to interfere with the kick returner and an initial flag was thrown. After a quick conference, the refs determined that there was no foul for interference since the Jaguars defender was blocked into the kick returner. There is no foul in that situation.

Illegal touching. On a Texans punt in the Cardinals at Texans game, Cardinals safety Budda Baker tried to down the punt inside the 1-yard line. He is successful in keeping the ball out of the end zone, but can’t hold onto the ball. Justin Bethel also touches the ball for the Cardinals before Bruce Ellington picks up the ball for the Texans. Ellington retreats into the end zone, and is tackled for a safety. However, since the ball was first illegally touched by the Cardinals, the Texans can elect to the ball at the spot of first touching (1-yard line) rather than the dead ball spot (safety). For a more in-depth discussion of this play, see our week 11 quick calls explanation. 

Penalty enforcement. On a 2-point conversion play in the Eagles at Cowboys game, an Eagles receiver fumbled the ball before breaking the plane of the goal line and the fumble was returned out across the 30-yard line. On the return, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz hit a Cowboys defender below the waist. On any change of possession play, blocks below the waist by either team are a foul and in this case, is to be enforced at the end of the subsequent kick-off.