What Are the NFL Rules on Intentional Grounding?

Most of the National Football League's rules and penalties are designed to protect the offense and quarterback. Intentional grounding is one of the few fouls that penalizes the offensive team. Without the NFL's intentional grounding rules, it would be almost impossible for the defense to get a sack because the quarterback could just toss the ball away right before the defender got close enough to tackle him.

Identification

An intentional grounding foul is called when the passer throws a forward pass that has no realistic chance of being completed. To be considered a realistic pass, there must be an eligible offensive player in the area where the ball lands. The passer must be faced with an imminent loss of yardage if he is tackled by the defensive player. In a game, this occurs when the quarterback is dropping back to pass and is about to get sacked.

Penalty

The penalty for intentional grounding is 10 yards from the previous line of scrimmage. The penalized team also loses that offensive down. For example, if an intentional grounding foul is called on second down and 10 yards from offense's own 20-yard line, the next play will begin at the 10-yard line and it will be third down and 20 yards to go. When the line of scrimmage is the offense's own 10-yard line or less, the team is penalized half the distance to the goal instead of the standard 10 yards. A safety is awarded to the defensive team if an intentional grounding foul is called while the passer is in his own end zone.

Exceptions

The passer can avoid an intentional grounding penalty if he is able to scramble out of the pocket and throw the ball away. To be considered out of the pocket, the passer must be outside the boundaries set by the left and right tackles of the offensive line. The ball must be thrown at least as far as the line of scrimmage, but it may land out of bounds as long as it reaches the proper distance forward.

Time Frame

When an intentional grounding foul is called with less than one minute on the game clock in either the first or second half, 10 seconds must be run off the clock before the next play can be started. This prevents the offensive team from deliberately taking a penalty in order to stop the clock when time is running out. If there are less than 10 seconds left on the game clock, the intentional grounding penalty ends the half. The offensive team can avoid this 10-second runoff by calling a time out if it has any available.

Intentional Grounding vs. Killing the Clock

Many fans are confused when the quarterback spikes the ball to kill the clock near the end of a half and no intentional grounding penalty is called. There are no eligible offensive players near the ball, so it seems like it should be considered an unrealistic pass. The difference is that the passer is not facing any imminent loss of yardage because of the defense, so the intentional grounding foul is not called.