Twice now, in the past three years, have I seen an issue arise of which I’ve not been able to get resolution from anyone at the NFL. Let me explain the two similar cases:
Three years ago the Buffalo Bills were playing the New Orleans Saints. Bills had the ball and Tyrod Taylor completed a short pass to Kelvin Benjamin. Benjamin ran after catch an additional 20yards before being tackled. At the end of his run, and 30 yards from the line of scrimmage, another Bills player was called for holding. If everything had stopped right there the 10 yard holding penalty would have been assessed from the end of the run (spot of the foul) and the Bills would have ended up with a 20 yard gain on the play. Pretty simple right? Problem was that New Orleans hit Taylor late and was assessed a roughing the passer penalty. By taking a personal foul penalty the referees ruled “offsetting penalties” and nullified the play. How absurd is this? By taking a penalty the Saints received a 20 yard benefit. Had they not roughed the passer the Bills would have had a 20 yard gain. You should NEVER gain an advantage by taking a penalty.
Fast forward to this year and the Bills v Cards game (Hail Murray). In the 3rd quarter the Bills had the ball at their own 15 yard line second down and 15. The Cards jumped offsides and Allen had a free play, so to speak. He dumped the ball off to Devon Singletary who ended up being tackled after gaining 30 yards. Again, however, at the end of the play, a Bill (Knox) took a holding penalty and the ref’s again ruled offsetting penalties-reply down. Again, had there not been a penalty against the Cards the Bills would have ended up with a 20 yard gain (30 on the catch/run less the 10 yard hold). Instead, by reason of the Cards having committed a penalty, the play was nullified and, as a result, they benefitted from taking a penalty.
I honestly believe that the ref’s (and the Bills staff for not questioning the play) made a mistake. NFL rules say that where there are two penalties on the same play, one on each team, they offset and you replay the down. That is clear. The rules ALSO say, however, that a team has the right to decline ANY penalty. The Bills, in both instances, should have been able to decline the opponent’s penalties. Once they declined the penalty there would no longer be “penalties against both teams” and there would be no “offsetting penalty” rule enforcement. Again this is consistent with the purpose of rules: No team should get an advantage by taking a penalty. I believe the Ref’s and the Bills staff missed this whole issue. I believe that we are so used to the “offsetting penalty-replay down” verbiage that no one even bothered to think the issue through on these plays.
The only time this issue would come into play is in a spot of the ball penalty. In every other dual penalty situation there would be no reason to decline one of the penalties since the penalty against your team would then be enforced.
Three years ago I wrote to the NFL Rules committee about this issue. Of course I received no response. This year I wrote to the Bills-again no response. The issue seems pretty simple: you don’t have offsetting penalties where one team declines the penalty. You should never benefit from taking a penalty like the Saints and Cards did in those two instances.
Would love to hear your thoughts.