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Question?

poornate

poornate

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This may be a dumb question but I'm not sure of the answer. If a QB can spike the ball to stop the clock because he is throwing to an eligible reciever when the ball goes towards him then why can't they spike the ball when they take the snap and fall under pressure instead of having to throw it away? Wouldn't it still be an incomplete pass?

:confused:
 
I crawled out of the smack forum for this one. I'm sure someone here knows the answer to this.
 
He has to spike the ball at the line. Once he drops back, spiking the ball will result in an intentional grounding penalty.
 
He's not at the line when he spikes it. The center is. What's the difference in the conditions if he drops back?
(still between TE's etc.)
 
I know about the penalty. I just want to know why it would be levied against him in this situation?
 
If I remember correctly, the spike is designed specifically to stop the clock, and can only be done immediately following the snap. It's similar to taking a knee, it's done before the play has any chance of developing. That's the explaination that I remember hearing about 20 years ago, so it may be a bit fuzzy.
 
I went and looked through the rule book and couldn't find anything prohibiting the drop back before the spike.
 
you are correct

Originally posted by NCCHEESEHEAD
If I remember correctly, the spike is designed specifically to stop the clock, and can only be done immediately following the snap. It's similar to taking a knee, it's done before the play has any chance of developing. That's the explaination that I remember hearing about 20 years ago, so it may be a bit fuzzy.
Click to expand...

To stop the clock the QB has to spike the ball immediuately after receiving it. I believe he has a step (backwards) to actually clear the center's butt.

If he drops back (like a 3, 4 or 5 step drop) and spikes the ball he would actually get a penalty for intentionally ground the ball. At 5 steps back and throwing the ball to the ground there would be no receiver available and the play would have begun to develop.

It all has to happen before there is a chance of any play to develop.
 
The spike play is a legal play. It is solely designed for the purpose of stopping the clock. It is exempt as it is a specialty play under specific rules.
As you probably know, a legitimate pass play is intentional grounding unless the QB is outside the tackles, then he can do whatever he wants to kill the play.
 
What about the "fake" spike play that Marino used to beat the Jets??? Peyton used a similar play where he faked the spike then ran in for a TD, but the refs said "no way". What is the difference in those plays??? Is it simply because Dan threw for a TD and Peyton ran his in???
 
The difference is that in the Manning play, the refs screwed up. What Marino and Manning did was perfectly legal. The problem with the Manning play was that the referee blew his whistle when he shouldn't have. He expected the ball to be spiked, so he blew his whistle. Once the whistle is blown, the play is over, no matter what. Kinda like when a player fumbles, but the ref blows the whistle and calls him "down by contact", the play cannot be reviewed because the whistle blew.
 
The stupid inadverdent whistle rule. Probably the most idiotic thing in the NFL......
 
At least they're trying to get it right now. The NFL instructs officials not to blow the whistle so quickly in those situations now.
 
I think intentional grounding can only be called if you're under pressure.
 
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