When a team is inside their own 10 yard line, a penalty that would normally be a 15 yarder just takes them back half the distance - not very much. Inside the 5, all penalties just take them half the distance. A second penalty takes an even smaller bite. It almost costs nothing to the penalized team. This weekend, Detroit is first and 10 on their 8 yard line and has to get to the 18 for a first down, gets penalized twice and still only needs to get to the 18 for the first down. That’s two penalties for a total of 3 yards each and neither one changes the offensive strategy very much. That’s bad. Not much of a penalty. Proposed rule change: when the usual penalty would be greater than half the distance to the goal, it gets added on to the line of gain. That way, in the case above, the first penalty would make it first and 15 from the 8. The second one would make it first and 20 from the 8. I don’t have a question - I’m just sayin’
But having the LOS closer to the goal line has it’s own disadvantages, mainly for safeties and less room to operate. You also lose a potentially valuable play. So I don’t think it needs changing.
Why not both? You get penalized half the distance, then any shortfall is added onto the line to gain.
So, first-and-10 from the 8, 15-yard penalty becomes 1st-and-25 from the 4.
It could work the other way too. I’ve always thought it’s a rip-off when for example you have an offside penalty on 4th-and-4 from the 6, but it isn’t a first down because it’s only half the distance. Since the penalty is only 3 yards, advance the line to gain by 2 yards (from the 2 to the 4), so it becomes first-and-goal from the 3.
I like this rule change. A penalty should be a penalty!
Here’s my idea: a 10- or 15-yard penalty is enforced in full, up to the 1-yard line. This is done for both offensive and defensive penalties. (If the ball was already within the 2, then half the distance to the goal line would be used.)
Aren’t all 15-yard penalties for doing things that are Really Bad and you should Never Do That? Why not make it so a 15 yard penalty is always 15 yards, and if that moves you into the end zone, it’s a score, sucks to be you, you shouldn’t have done that?
Because that’s not how things are done. The only penalty that I know of that directly results in a score is intentional grounding in the end zone, which results in a safety. Are there any others? All other such penalties result in half the distance to the goal line, of in the case of something like PI in the end zone, the ball on the 1 yard line. Penalties shouldn’t give you points directly. Points should be earned but penalties make it easier.
I have a notion that if a player is running down the sideline with no one between him and the goal line and an opposing team member comes off the bench to trip him, that results in a touchdown being awarded.
Is that right?
I can recall seeing this: Team A has first-and-10 at their own 2-yd line. They commit 2 successive motion penalties, putting the ball on the half-yard-line. Team B then is whistled for offsides. Net result of committing twice as many minor penalties as the defense: a 3.5-yd gain.
Have a second penalty result in a loss of a down. If no yards are gained the defense can just decline the penalty anyway, so inside the 5 yard line give the defense the choice of half the distance or loss of down in addition to declining the penalty.
Good example of what’s not quite right with the “half the distance” rule. A team that commits an infraction should be penalized. The penalty has already been written into the rule books. So, the penalty should hold, no matter where on the field they are. Maybe my proposal shouldn’t hold on the other end of the field, however The exception has to be when a team is defending their goal and they commit an infraction and the walk-off of the yardage would put the offensive team into the end zone.
All you want to know about Penalty Enforcement, including scenarios.
I don’t know the background, but half-the-distance to the goal is considered to be the maximum yardage that can be enforced for most penalties. I was looking to see when the half-the-distance rule came into being but I haven’t had any luck finding a website that looks at the penalties as opposed to the fouls.
I don’t think we need to change the rule. All penalties need to be a balance of reward. Using the 10 yard line as the starting point, a 10 yard penalty on the defense would go to the 5 yard line with half-the-distance. Under your rule, they would likely get the 1 yard line.
From the 10-yrd line, chance of scoring a touchdown is 49.9%
From the 5-yrd line, 69.9%
From the 1-yrd line, 84.1%
So half the distance gives the offense a significant advantage to score without making it automatic.
On the other end of the field, with the offense backed up to their own endzone,
90-yards away - 18.1% chance to score touchdown or field goal
95-yrds - 15.7%
99-yrds - 14.2%
So again, half-the-distance carries a scoring penalty.
By rule, any foul committed by the team on offense in their own endzone is a safety. So any spot foul such as intentional grounding, holding, clipping in the end zone would result in the award of a safety to the defense.
Officials may also award a touchdown for a palpably unfair act, such as a player coming off the bench to make a tackle.
Should note that NFL, NCAA, and High School rules vary in enforcement.