Wild Card officiating video: QB-to-QB catch, 15 vs. 5 enforcement on a punt, 10-second runoffs for injuries

Senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron released the NFL wildcard weekend playoff officiating video (below), and in it, he covered the following:

Quarterback pass-catch. In the Titans at Chiefs game, Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota rolled out of the pocket and tried to throw a pass to the end zone that was deflected and caught by himself for a touchdown. The quarterback may catch his own pass when it’s deflected by the defense, as may any other player on offense. He also appeared to throw the ball while his foot was on the line of scrimmage, but for an illegal forward pass, the quarterback has to be all the way across the line of scrimmage. 

The last time a quarterback caught his own pass for a touchdown was in 1997 when Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson caught his own pass .

QBs to throw TD passes to themselves:
Marcus Mariota, 1/6/2018
Brad Johnson, 10/12/1997
Frank Ryan, 10/30/1960 (lateral from receiver)
Roy Zimmerman, 10/29/1944 (lateral from receiver)

— Quirky Research (@QuirkyResearch) January 6, 2018

Penalty enforcement. During a punt in the same game, a Titans defender on the receiving team was flagged for running into the kicker of the 5 yard variety and after the play was over and the change of possession occurred, there was a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty assessed on the Chiefs for shoving a player in the back. By rule, the penalties offset and the down was replayed from the previous spot. In many cases when there is a “15 vs. 5 enforcement,” the 15-yarder is enforced from the previous spot, as long as there is a simple 5-yard foul by the other team. In this case, there was a change of possession, which means it is not a “simple 5” (no loss of down, no automatic first down, no 10-second runoff, etc.), and they only may offset.

Injury inside 2 minutes. With less than 2 minutes left in the Bills at Jaguars game, Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was injured on a tackle. Buffalo had zero timeouts left so they were granted a 4th timeout. That does not carry a penalty but does carry a 10-second runoff, which they could not stop. (The defense is allowed to decline the runoff.) After the 10-second runoff, the clock starts on the ready-for-play signal. 

Photo: Donn Jones/Tennessee Titans