....because I'm wondering if that Cleveland WR couldn't have just thrown the ball out of bounds. Obviously, their must be a rule against it or more players would do it. A lateral is legal so it would seem possible unless there is a 10 second run off when you fumble out of bounds or something. ....which also makes me wonder what the current rule is for fumbling the ball forwards. Nobody does this at the end of games either. Is this what the bean bag is for.... to mark the spot and that you can't fumble forwards. ....as for the FG rule. What were the announcers talking about in the giant game. No matter what happened they said one second would be left whether he missed it or made the FG? Makes sense. But is that true? And does that mean that their will always be a kickoff return after a game "winning" FG. If true, I think a missed FG would more dramtically end the game than a kneel down. So they should only make that true for made FG's.
PSJ I have absolutely no idea what the announcers were talking about with respect to having 1 second left. I do not believe there is such a rule. It would defeat the purpose of a team working the clock down to the last second in order to try the game winning/tying field goal. There have been plenty of games that ended this year on a FG so I think Aikman simply didn't know what he was talking about.
....as for the FG rule. What were the announcers talking about in the giant game. No matter what happened they said one second would be left whether he missed it or made the FG? Makes sense. But is that true? And does that mean that their will always be a kickoff return after a game "winning" FG. I'm guessing what they were trying to say here was that FG's now take 5 seconds, maybe? Because there were 6 seconds on the clock, and often in the past, the field goal goes through and time just keeps running for a few seconds, ending games that shouldn't technically be over. Maybe they implemented a rule saying that normal field goals run no more than 5 seconds to prevent this from happening.
I believe that fumbling the ball out of bounds on purpose is unsportsmanlike conduct, and probably would have resulted in a 15 yard penalty and a 10 second run off. Also - The Giants holder would not have been able to spike the ball, It is against the rules to spike a football unless you take the snap directlly under center.
About the 1 second after FG's rule... Aikman said that the NFL instituted a new policy this year that there must always be 1 second on the clock after last second field goals are kicked (before the end of the game), no matter how much time initially was on the clock. So I assume if there are even 2 seconds left in a game, they will keep 1 second on the clock for a final play. I don't know if this is true for pre-halftime kicks as well.
Really? Then those commentators surely botched the post-play commentary. It makes sense though; it seems like it would be considered intentionally grounding (they still would have got another play though, right?)
Here is an example of a game ending field goal in regualtion time. There was not a kickoff after the FG. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playbyplay?gameId=220929014 Here's another: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=221027018
It would be called Intentional Grounding unless Allen was outside the tackle box and had an eligible receiver in the general vicinity.
