# NFL: Intentional lateral out of bounds **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442 "2002-10-23T00:09:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/1 "2002-10-23T00:09:30Z")
Here’s a situation which occurs fairly often: A team has no timeouts left and has to make a long drive in the last minute of the game. The defense moves back into a Prevent pattern, leaving the middle of the field wide open. The quarterback throws a 20-yard pass over the middle. A receiver catches it and tries to run to the nearest sideline to stop the clock, but several DBs converge and it is obvious that he won’t make it. If he is tackled inbounds it will mean the loss of several precious seconds as his team rushes to line up for another play. Would it be a) legal b) sensible for the receiver to throw the ball laterally out of bounds? This should stop the clock and give the offense a first down at the spot where the ball went out of play. (Apologies for adding to the surfeit of American football threads. It sure would be nice if the NFL put its full rulebook on their website like the NHL does.) ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/2 "2002-10-23T00:56:04Z")
You can’t do that. If you deliberately lateral or fumble the ball out of bounds to stop the clock, the officials will penalize you. If it’s at the end of the half or game, it’s over. It used to be legal, but then everyone realized that it’s not very cool. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/3 "2002-10-23T03:24:18Z")
What’s the penalty? Delay of game? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/4 "2002-10-23T05:52:22Z")
Yep, it’s delay of game. And 10 seconds is run off the clock as well. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/5 "2002-10-23T21:10:00Z")
Does the same rule apply if the QB throws a forward pass out of bounds? Is this different from intentional grounding? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/6 "2002-10-23T21:46:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CookingWithGas \* > \*\*Does the same rule apply if the QB throws a forward pass out of bounds? > > Is this different from intentional grounding? \*\* It really is intentional grounding, but it is done all the time with no penalty. There usually is an eligible receiver somewhere within 10 yards of the pass. I have never seen the penalty invoked in that situation. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/7 "2002-10-23T23:13:30Z")
AFAIK Intentional Grounding only applies to forward passes. It’s called on the quarterback if he’s inside the “tackle box” and throws away a pass to avoid being sacked. He can do it legally from outside of the tackles as long as the pass reaches the line of scrimmage. If you’re having trouble visualizing this, don’t worry – John Madden diagrams it during almost every game he covers. I didn’t know Delay of Game covered the situation in my question. Is the 5 yards assessed from the original line of scrimmage or the spot where the ball goes out of bounds? If it’s the latter I’m thinking sometimes it might be worth taking the penalty and runoff. It takes about 10 seconds to have the quarterback spike the ball anyway, and this would give the coach time to make substitutions and call a play. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/8 "2002-10-23T23:16:12Z")
I’m not quite sure about all the specifics of the rule, but I would think that the enforcement would be from the end of the play. Then there would be a 10-second run off. Then, here I’m guessing, that the clock would start immediately when the ball is ready for play. ---
**Author:** ![Houlihan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Houlihan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Houlihan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/9 "2002-10-24T01:46:45Z")
I believe it is legal, in the last two minutes of the half. I am looking at the “Official Rules of the NFL” which I received in the mail today. I purchased it because I am a Browns fan, and I want to be up on the more creative ways to lose a game. I started trying to read the rules, and they are absolutely unintelligible. And I am a lawyer. Anyway, as best as I can make out, Rule 4-3-10 applies, which states that “there shall be no unusual action or inaction during the last two minutes of a half to conserve time” and it provides for the 10 second run-off penalty. However, supplemental note 5 to the rule states “During a play from scrimmage a backward pass going out of bounds during the last two minutes of the half stops the game clock.” The rules don’t recognize a “lateral”, rather any pass that is not a forward pass is a “backward pass”, including those that move parallel to a yardline. 3-21-4, note 2. Accordingly, it appears that a lateral would stop the clock. I think. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/10 "2002-10-24T01:56:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number \* > \*\*AFAIK Intentional Grounding only applies to forward passes. It’s called on the quarterback if he’s inside the “tackle box” and throws away a pass to avoid being sacked. He can do it legally from outside of the tackles as long as the pass reaches the line of scrimmage. If you’re having trouble visualizing this, don’t worry – John Madden diagrams it during almost every game he covers. > \*\* Even better, watch some college games this Saturday. There always seems to be at least one intentional grounding call during a college game. I don’t know if the rules are all that different, but it’d give you the basic idea. And waiting for Madden will do it will take until at least next Monday. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/11 "2002-10-24T01:57:48Z")
Yes, the clock would stop. But it’s still a penalty and a runoff of time. In college football, if you commit some act which is obviously designed to save time, such as a deliberate lateral out of bounds, the referee has the discretion to start the clock as soon as he sees fit. It could be that the NFL works around this by just using the 10-second runoff. ---
**Author:** ![Houlihan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Houlihan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Houlihan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/12 "2002-10-24T02:07:23Z")
Again with the official NFL rules - 8-3-1- says intentional grounding only applies to forward passes when the passer is “faced with the imminent loss of yardage”. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/13 "2002-10-24T03:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Houlihan \* > **I purchased it because I am a Browns fan, and I want to be up on the more creative ways to lose a game.** More creative than throwing your helmet during the play? 😃 > [@](#): > > **However, supplemental note 5 to the rule states "During a play from scrimmage a backward pass going out of bounds during the last two minutes of the half stops the game clock."** That does make it sound like it would be legal. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/14 "2002-10-24T05:30:42Z")
You can intentionally ground a forward pass to stop the clock. It’s called “spiking the ball” and it’s done all the time. As for throwing a lateral out of bounds, it **will** stop the clock–but there will be a five-yard penalty, imposed from where the ball went out of bounds, and a ten-second runoff after which the referee will walk away from the ball with the clock still running and the offense can snap it to start the next play. In certain circumstances–perhaps after a long gain–this might be **marginally** better than falling down, lining up, and snapping and spiking the ball, but I’ve never seen it done. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/15 "2002-10-24T14:55:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jklann \* > **You can intentionally ground a forward pass to stop the clock. It’s called “spiking the ball” and it’s done all the time.** I believe that this is a relatively new rule and applies only to the last two minutes of the game or half. I believe this because I see it so frequently now in the last two minutes. So if Houlihan would please look this up in his new rulebook, I’d be much obliged. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/16 "2002-10-24T17:00:15Z")
[nitpick]Having the QB deliberately spike the ball after a snap is called “clocking the ball” in the rule book.[/nitpick] It’s been around the NFL for about 15 years and college a little less. However, you can do it anytime. Sometimes an NFL team will do it in order to run a quick play after a questionable play in order to preclude a replay challenge. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-intentional-lateral-out-of-bounds/133442/17 "2002-10-24T18:16:18Z")
The intentional grounding call hinges on eminent loss of yardage. Spiking the ball does not meet that criteria.