While many Detroit Lions fans may have tuned out by the end of the game, a very peculiar thing happened right at the end of their Week 5 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
After Derrick Barnes’ sack earned Detroit a safety, the Bengals had a rare scenario. Down 13 points and having to perform a safety free kick, Cincinnati essentially performed an onside punt in the hopes Detroit muffed the return, and they could recover.
That did not happen. Amon-Ra St. Brown got under the ball, fair caught it, and the Lions were able to run out the remainder of the clock. However, the Bengals were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty… on the punter! Detroit was given the ball half the distance toward the goal line, setting them up at the Bengals’ 10-yard line. The FOX broadcast didn’t do a great job explaining the bizarre penalty, so let’s dive into what really happened.
The first thing you need to know is that, like on a normal kickoff under the new rules, an onside kick still has a “restraining line” and a “setup zone.” The restraining line is defined as where the kicking team’s players (outside of the kicker) need to have at least one foot on before the ball has landed or been fielded. For a safety kick, that’s the 20-yard line. The returning team’s restraining line is 10 yards beyond that (the 30-yard line, in this instance), and by rule, the Lions must have between 8-9 players between the restraining line and 15 yards beyond the restraining line — or between the 30 and 45-yard line. This area is referred to as the “setup zone.”
Here’s what that looks like visually:
Under the new rules, an onside kick is defined as (bold is my emphasis added):
A free kick that the kicking team attempts to legally recover from the kicking team’s restraining
line to the furthest point downfield within the onside kick setup zone.
So any kick that goes beyond the onside kick setup zone is illegal. St. Brown catches the ball on the 46-yard line—one yard beyond the onside kick setup zone. So, by definition, that is an illegal kick, as the rulebook clearly states under Rule 6, Article 6:
Penalty: For an onside kick that goes untouched beyond the onside kick setup zone: Loss of 15 yards from the kicking team’s restraining line and the receiving team takes possession.
It clearly states the enforcement of the penalty is from the kicking team’s restraining line (20-yard line), so half the distance to the goal is the 10-yard line, where the Lions took possession.
(Hat tip to Football Zebras for initially offering an explanation)
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