For those of you who pay close attention to our content (and thank you for that), you weren’t as surprised as others might have been by the onside kick the Dolphins attempted late in last night’s game.
The play happened after a safety. The Dolphins had a free kick from their own 20. They were permitted to declare, and to attempt, an onside kick.
The Dolphins punted the ball at the 20. It landed on the Miami 47.
The Titans made the “Peter” call as the ball was landing (it can easily be heard on the broadcast), instructing the players to stay away from the ball.
Titans special-teams coordinator Colt Anderson was livid, telling the players that they should have made a fair catch. ESPN rules analyst Jerry Bergman seemed very confused, too. Play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler, whose primary beat is college football, kept insisting that the Titans should have called for a fair catch.
The players on the field weren’t confused by any of it. To their credit.
They apparently knew the rule. If the kick goes untouched beyond 25 yards from the spot of the kick (the 10-yard restraining line plus the 15-yard setup zone), the receiving team takes possession. And, on top of that, here’s the 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.”
The ball landed two yards past the setup zone. This means that, even without a fair catch, it became Tennessee’s ball. On top of that, they got the ball 15 yards (here, half the distance) from the spot of the kick.
While it required a careful and accurate estimate of where the ball would land, the Titans players got it right. It hit the ground more than 25 yards from the spot of the kick. And if a Tennessee player had called for a fair catch and muffed it, the Dolphins could have recovered the ball and retained possession.
Everyone should have known about this rule before last night. After last night, there can be no excuses that people didn’t know.