Emphasis on ineligible man down field penalty

[dlphg9]

I've never seen so many ineligible man down field penalties in my life, so I did some digging and it seems like the NFL has either told the refs to watch out for it, more teams are running RPO's, or something else I can't think of.

So far this year there has been a total of 95 ineligible man down field penalties in 174 games. How's that line up with previous years?

2021 285 games and 69 penalties
2020 269 games and 49 penalties
2019 267 games and 55 penalties
2018 267 games and 29 penalties
2017 267 games and 19 penalties
2016 267 games and 33 penalties

No idea why 2020 has 269 games, but that's what nflpenalties.con says.

So the NFL is on pace for 156 ineligible man down field penalties.

In past years it seemed like that penalty was very rarely called and now you see it every other game. What gives?

[Bearcat]

Yeah, seems strange and gets kind of annoying... not necessarily a matter of SHOULD it be called, but why would it be something to concentrate on or even care about if it has nothing to do with the play.

If an offensive linemen is 5 yards downfield and then picks up a block... then fine.

If he's a yard into the end zone between the hashes and the play is on the sideline... WTF.

Of all the shit that's concerning when it comes to blatant holding to prevent a sack, pass interference on both sides, etc.... who gives a shit if OLine is downfield a touch.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Yeah, seems strange and gets kind of annoying... not necessarily a matter of SHOULD it be called, but why would it be something to concentrate on or even care about if it has nothing to do with the play.

If an offensive linemen is 5 yards downfield and then picks up a block... then fine.

If he's a yard into the end zone between the hashes and the play is on the sideline... WTF.

Of all the shit that's concerning when it comes to blatant holding to prevent a sack, pass interference on both sides, etc.... who gives a shit if OLine is downfield a touch.

THIS

[YontsRBake]

would imagine this directly correlates with the rising popularity of the RPO.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Yeah, seems strange and gets kind of annoying... not necessarily a matter of SHOULD it be called, but why would it be something to concentrate on or even care about if it has nothing to do with the play.

If an offensive linemen is 5 yards downfield and then picks up a block... then fine.

If he's a yard into the end zone between the hashes and the play is on the sideline... WTF.

Of all the shit that's concerning when it comes to blatant holding to prevent a sack, pass interference on both sides, etc.... who gives a shit if OLine is downfield a touch.

Cause a block is a block. Why are you guys in favor of giving refs MORE judgement calls? It should be as black and white as possible. It's one of the few penalties that makes helps the defense and keeps LBs free and able to make plays sideline to sideline.

[Rainbarrel]

Was it a punt where the Rams had 4-5 guys announced as eligible. Never heard that one before

[Spott]

It kind of comes with the territory having Mahomes as QB. He improvises quite a bit and there’s a handful of plays every game where he looks like he’s going to run only to pass it at the very last second before he crosses the line of scrimmage.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Yeah, seems strange and gets kind of annoying... not necessarily a matter of SHOULD it be called, but why would it be something to concentrate on or even care about if it has nothing to do with the play.

If an offensive linemen is 5 yards downfield and then picks up a block... then fine.

If he's a yard into the end zone between the hashes and the play is on the sideline... WTF.

Of all the shit that's concerning when it comes to blatant holding to prevent a sack, pass interference on both sides, etc.... who gives a shit if OLine is downfield a touch.

In a league where offense is given every advantage I kind of like a rule that keeps some of that in check. Defenses are reading the OL to determine run pass. It incentivizes QBs to try to make the throw instead of giving a huge advantage to every qb who bails on the pocket.

[oldman]

I think they can't be more than 1 yard (3 yards in college) downfield. The RPO is the main reason we've seen so many over the last couple of years. It's a timing thing.

[Wilson8]

Rules of the game - In college it is 3 yards. In NFL it is 1 yard.

NFL must have decided to call it more closely.

SECTION 3 - INELIGIBLE PLAYER DOWNFIELD
ARTICLE 1. LEGAL AND ILLEGAL ACTS
On a scrimmage play during which a legal forward pass is thrown, an ineligible offensive player, including a T-formation quarterback, is not permitted to move more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage before the pass has been thrown.

Item 1. Legally Downfield. An ineligible player is not illegally downfield if, after initiating contact with an opponent within one yard of the line of scrimmage during his initial charge:

he moves more than one yard beyond the line while legally blocking or being blocked by an opponent after breaking legal contact with an opponent more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage, he remains stationary until a forward pass is thrown
after losing legal contact with an opponent more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage, he is forced behind the line of scrimmage by an opponent, at which time he is again subject to normal blocking restrictions for an ineligible offensive player.
Note: If an ineligible offensive player moves beyond the line while legally blocking or being blocked by an opponent, an eligible offensive player may catch a pass between them and the line of scrimmage.

Item 2. Illegally Downfield. An ineligible offensive player is illegally downfield if:

he moves more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage without contacting an opponent
after losing contact with an opponent within one yard of the line of scrimmage, he advances more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage
after losing contact with an opponent more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage, he continues to move toward his opponent’s goal line.
Penalty: For ineligible offensive player downfield: Loss of five yards from the previous spot.

Note: An ineligible offensive player is illegally downfield when his entire body is more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage.

https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/2022-nfl-rulebook/

[scho63]

Willie Gay disapproves of this thread.

[htismaqe]

I was going to say, it's 1 yard in the NFL.

[O.city]

I'd guess it's because with the new found RPO stuff the league does, teams are bringing it up to officials more often.

[KurtCobain]

So... Why does 2020 report two extra games?

[Spott]

Originally Posted by KurtCobain

So... Why does 2020 report two extra games?

If I had to guess, they are counting playoff games. In 2020 they added an extra wild card game for the AFC and NFC. 2020 was a 16 game regular season schedule and 2021 was 17 games, which is why 2021 have more games.

[lcarus]

Apparently they're emphasizing that and going super easy on false starts. It used to be if a right guard squeaked out a fart they'd call false start. This year you see guys starting a damn near full second before the snap and they don't call it.