Question about blocking FG attempts...

Submitted by Frank Chuck on

I was hoping one of the reporters would ask Harbaugh about this but it didn't happen in Monday's press conference.

So I'm wondering if someone here can explain (or give some insight into) this: why did we not send Peppers to hurdle over the snapper to block the FG?

(Edit: It's partially a rules question and partially a cost/benefit strategy question.)

We know Peppers has the athleticism to do it. He hurdled a special teams defender early in the season.

Vanderbilt LB Zach Cunningham (who might win SEC DPotY) did it to block a FG attempt against Auburn in Jordan Hare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPSt0VeU9pI

Seattle DB Kam Chancellor wasn't the first to do it but he garnered a lot of attention by doing it against the Carolina Panthers in a playoff game. Pete Carroll's idea was simple: coaches should use their best/most freakish athlete to anticiapte the snap and jump over to block the FG. His belief is that the best way to attack a FG attempt is to aggressively attack the kick.

Here's another example: Denver Broncos beat the New Orleans Saints this past Sunday in the Louisiana Superdome by blocking a PAT. Broncos sent Simmons over the snapper who blocked the kick and a teammate returned it for the winning 2 points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqUpq65ACQw (Go to 0:48.)

Even if the player jumps the snapper early and is called for offsides, the penalty only moves up the opponent 5 yards. By game theory, the positive (blocking a game-winning FG) far outweighs the negative.

MGoBoard

BIGBLUEWORLD

November 15th, 2016 at 2:13 AM ^

But Peppers drew the short straw, and was the guy who was left out when they decided to go with ten players on the field.

Joined: 07/14/2012

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Squash34

November 15th, 2016 at 2:16 AM ^

You can't take a running start and jump over the line anymore, it's called leaping when you do. In years past, it used to be you could not jump on a teammate and use is body to catapult over the line. But with the rules changing to focus more on players safety, they made it you can't take a running start and try and leap over the line. The refs blew the call in the Vanderbilt game. However, msu got called for it in the Indiana game (I believe). And, instead of looking up the rule, their fans cried conspiracy.

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Frank Chuck

November 15th, 2016 at 3:09 AM ^

...Notre Dame did it against us to block a game-winning FG in the late 70s and the rule was changed the following off-season.

I just googled it. It seems the "leaping rule" has nuance.

Under Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(q), NFL rules says: Running forward and leaping in an obvious attempt to block a field goal or (extra point) …” Players lined up within 1 yard of the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped are exempt from the leaping penalty. The NCAA has a similarly worded rule that applies to college football, although the college penalty is considered a personal foul.

Zach Cunningham wasn't called for a penalty even though he had a running start. It was smart of him (and Vanderbilt) to take advantage of how infrequently leaping is called. I wish we had tried it against Iowa.

Joined: 05/01/2015

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danimal1968

November 15th, 2016 at 10:40 AM ^

Rule 9-1-11

ARTICLE 11.

a. No defensive player, in an attempt to gain an advantage, may step, jump or stand on an opponent.

b. No defensive player who runs forward from beyond the neutral zone and leaps from beyond the neutral zone in an obvious attempt to block a field goal or try may land on any player(s).

  1. It is not a foul if the player was aligned in a stationary position within one yard of the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped.
  2. It is not a foul if the player leaps from in or behind the neutral zone.
  3. It is not a foul if an offensive player initiates contact against the player who leaps.

c. No defensive player who is inside the tackle box may try to block a punt by leaving his feet in an attempt to leap directly over an opponent.

  1. It is not a foul if the player tries to block the punt by jumping straight up without attempting to leap over the opponent.
  2. It is not a foul if a player attempts to leap through or over the gap between players.

d. No defensive player, in an attempt to block, bat or catch a kick, may:

  1. Step, jump or stand on a teammate.
  2. Place a hand(s) on a teammate to get leverage for additional height.
  3. Be picked up by a teammate, or be elevated, propelled or pushed.

PENALTY [a-d]—15 yards, previous spot and automatic first down. [S38] 

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A Lot of Milk

November 15th, 2016 at 2:16 AM ^

Because if he make contact with anyone, it's a penalty. You have to catch them by surprise in order to hurdle block, and I don't think they would be surprised to see Jabrill try that

Joined: 02/17/2013

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Frank Chuck

November 15th, 2016 at 3:10 AM ^

...partially a rules question partially a cost-benefit strategy question.

It appears to me the benefit (i.e. blocking the FG by attacking the kick) far outweighs the risk (re: a 5 yard offside penalty for mis-timing the jump or a 15 yard penalty for making contact). If the player incurs a penalty, he can attempt to jump over the snapper again and block the re-kick.

Joined: 05/01/2015

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LJ

November 15th, 2016 at 10:26 AM ^

You're completely missing the real risk: they get an extra chance at the kick if you get the penalty.  If they make it, they decline; game over.  If they miss, they get an extra shot.  This is exactly what happened to MSU -- Indiana missed the kick (for reasons totally unrelated to the leaping) but the penalty gave them another shot.  It cost MSU the game.

Joined: 07/05/2008

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AFWolverine

November 15th, 2016 at 3:14 AM ^

So I understand the rule is that you can't leverage a teammate to make a big leap over the line, but what if we left a gap in the line for someone of Peppers' ability to jet through. If he's within one yard of the LOS at the snap, and makes it into that gap and blocks the kick, does this not break the rule?

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CPig

November 15th, 2016 at 8:51 AM ^

Everyone is focused on the wrong thing.  The fact that it came down to a last second FG when you are 21.5 point favorites is a problem.  Iowa's D, which has been very pedestrian this year, absolutely stuffed you.  Darbough wanted no part of your favorite son Dez King and Speight was seeing Black through his ear hole.  OSU should feel pretty good about beating Big Blue in a couple weeks.  You've benefitted from playing all your games at home this year, but hey only a few teams Michigan, Alabama maybe OSU can get away with playing 8 or 9 home games/yr.

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bo_lives

November 15th, 2016 at 11:39 AM ^

And I think it's BS that Brian and this blog have ignored it, especially after they railed Hoke so hard for putting 10 men on the punt team during some random game from 2014. Hoke certainly deserved most all the criticism he got, but in the podcast neither Brian nor Ace even mentioned the fact that we only put 10 men out while trying to block the game deciding field goal--both before and after the "icing" time out no less. That's a major personell error for which Harbaugh and his staff deserve a significant amount of critisicm.

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Reader71

November 15th, 2016 at 4:54 PM ^

It's not really BS. People only had a problem with Hoke's 10 men because we were losing a lot of games. If we won those games and were challenging for titles, they'd make memes about how Hoke is so good he only needs to field 10 guys. If Harbaugh was losing a lot of games, they would cling to this, too. First, it happens to everyone. Harbaugh, Saban, Meyer, it has happened to all of them, and will again. Second, we couldn't even pick up first downs with any consistency in Hoke's last year. Anyone who was focused on the 10-man special teams errors was worrying about something relatively unimportant in the scheme of things. It's an error. It might have been a costly one. It deserves criticism. It's not the end of the world now, nor was it before. They just made it into a big deal because they were sad about their football team.

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MH20

November 15th, 2016 at 11:08 AM ^

Convince that Oklahoma State guy who blocked all those kicks against Texas to walk on to the team. He managed to knife his way through the line and basically swatted the ball off the kicker's foot.

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