I’m not an avid NFL fan, so I don’t watch enough to witness a safety. So, for the life of me, I really can’t picture how this comes to be. Can you define what a safety is? And, what event(s) typically unfold when you’d suspect a team will go for a safety? BTW, I assume this is a defensive move, correct? Thanks!
In simple terms a safety happens when the offense gets tackles with the ball in their own endzone. It’s a defensive score and “planning for a safety” ought never to be an offensive strategy, although some weird occasion might make it the best choice among several bad ones.
Only the defense plans for a safety, and usually not even then. Having extra men rushing the quarterback leaves holes open for an undefended pass receiver. Safeties are a result of good defensive play no different than in any other situation. You don’t want to just stop the offense, you want them to go backwards. And if they go backwards over their own goal line the defense is given 2 points, and then the team that was on offense has to kick off to the team that was on defense, switching the roles.
There are generally two times when a safety occurs. The first is a sack of the quarterback in the end zone. The other is a fumble in the end zone which is either knocked out of bounds or is recovered by the offensive team. It’s also possible to give up a safety by an offensive penalty (usually holding) in the end zone.
I believe that somewhere in my posting history here is me yelling at Jake Plummer (when he was with the Broncos) for making a stupid throw out of the end zone in an attempt to avoid the safety and giving up an interception for a touchdown instead. Safeties suck from an offensive point of view but there are definitely times that they’re the best option.
I suppose if you were leading by, say, nine, and were buried deep in your own end it might make more sense to take an intentional safety and have the free kick from the 20 instead of deep in the end zone.
An offensive holding call in the end zone (that presumably prevented a ball-carrier from being tackled therein), or a fumble that rolls out the back of the end zone, are two ways a safety can be scored without anyone being tackled.
Need not be the QB - it’s a safety if any offensive player with the ball is tackled in the endzone.
The center on offense, or the long-snapper on the punt team, could snap it through the back of the endzone, resulted in a safety.
True, but in my experience it’s more likely to be a sack as opposed to, say, a RB stuffed in the end zone.
Similarly, a punt that’s blocked through the back of the end zone is a safety.
Intentional grounding in the end zone (to avoid a sack) is another common way a safety can happen. Occasionally an offensive team will take an intentional safety, taking the 2 points and kicking off from the 20 rather than punting from the back of the end zone. Usually this happens at the end of games.
Intentional grounding by the QB in the end zone is also a safety.
And I’ve seen Offenses take them on purpose. Especially near the end of the game when giving up two points to give the opposing team worse field position after the free kick is a better option than turning the ball over or punting from inside your end zone.
After all, if you are up by 6 points, giving up 2 points is irrelevant. A field goal loses to you and a touchdown will (far more often than not) beat you (since conversions can be attempted after time has run out).
ETA: Beaten to the punch.
I just came back to post that. It’s rare but you don’t want to be stuck near your own endzone. You might even be a few points behind already, but you don’t want to give the other team good field position where they can at least score a field goal. And if you need to score a touchdown you want to kick off and hope you can stop the other team at the other end of the field. In that case time has to be limited, it’s all risky and a desperation tactic.
Another aspect of a Safety that I don’t think was mentioned and is arguably more important than the 2 points the defense gets is the team on defense who scored the safety gets the ball.
And the other team has to kick off from their own 20 year line, rather than their 35, so the team that scored the safety is likely to get the ball in very good field position as well.
Note that the foul has to take place in the end zone in order for the penalty to be a safety (and the location of the ball at the time is irrelevant). For example, any contact foul (e.g. holding, clipping, grasping the face mask) where the contact is made by an offensive player in the end zone is a safety (unless the defense declines the penalty - for example, because the defense intercepted a pass on that play and scored, or is close to scoring, a touchdown).
Another tactic usually used with taking an intentional safety is running parallel to the end line for a few seconds, then stepping out of bounds behind the back of the end zone. This is usually done late in the game when a team is ahead by (usually) six points and has fourth down near its own goal line, so the other team has less time to score and win the game.
I suppose it’s also worth mentioning that there are 2 defensive players who play the safety position - strong safety and free safety often referred to as just “the safety”.
The Patriots once planned a safety in order to get the ball back and win the game.
There was kind of an interesting safety last year in the Titans-Steelers game. The Titans’ kick returner was in the end zone as the opening kickoff bounced toward him. Without realizing it, he broke the plane of the goal line as he collected the football. So when he took a knee in the end zone, he surrended a couple of points to Pittsburgh almost before the fans could start digging into their hot dogs and nachos.
There was a safety today
The Seahawks were backed up near their own goal line and the running back was tackled in the end zone
The Chargers scored one today as well, when the Buffalo QB was called for intentional grounding in his own end zone.