Kopy 491 Posted January 14, 2018 A non football fan/watcher asked me a question last night. I had never even thought about it before. But I couldn't come up with an actual answer. Why is intentional grounding a penalty. But spiking the ball is just an incomplete pass? The QB is in the pocket on both plays. And neither throw is an attempt at an actual eligible player. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vikings4ever 496 Posted January 14, 2018 http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/intentionalgrounding Intentional grounding will be called when a passer, facing an imminent loss of yardage due to pressure from the defense, throws a forward pass without a realistic chance of completion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kutulu 1,545 Posted January 14, 2018 I think the reasoning is spiking the ball is the actual called play (not counting Dan Marino fake spike) and an acceptable way to stop the clock without using a time out where intentionally grounding is a last ditch effort to avoid a negative play which can also hurt the other team by avoiding a sack, pick ect. Intentionally grounding is probably not the best name though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weepaws 2,460 Posted January 14, 2018 http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/intentionalgrounding Winner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tanatastic 2,061 Posted January 15, 2018 They don’t want the qb cheesing his way out of bad situations with a pass to nowhere. A spike is done at the start so no implied chance of a positive outcome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites