True or False? Belicheck could have accepted the penalty on the loose punt...

[ChuckyTheGoat]

and taken the ball. Isn't the rare "intentional kick of a loose ball" a half the distance penalty and loss of down?

ie, couldn't the Pats have taken the penalty (and refuse the safety), thereby taking the ball at the 2 for a first and goal?

I guess it didn't matter in the long run, but it seemed like a viable option if I understand the rule correctly. I saw a college game a # of years back where the same situation came up. Maybe the college rule is different than the pro rule. Not sure.

 

[Kdogg21]

they would of not gotten the ball back. the ball would have been placed at the 2, but still indy's ball and a loss of down i think. you almost would of think to make them punt, but if your allready getting 2 points, i wouldn't want them to take it away...

 

[the_fix_is_on]

True. He could have accepted the penalty, but that wouldn't have been the best thing to do. Carolina would have been penalized 10 yards from the spot of the file, which I believe was about the 15 yard line. The refs would have spotted the ball at about the 7 yard line (half the distance from the spot of the file) and then Carolina would have punted from there. No loss of down. So the right play was to take the safety and get the ball back on the free kick.