The QB Pocket. Someone Please Explain

[pansophy]

I do think they are more strigent on that if the QB is close to being sacked. I can't think of a time a QB threw it away to save time and was called for grounding.

 

[Praxit]

....you guys are tearing me apart.... Which is it? ......

 

[offlimits]

I don't recall the plays all that well but if there was a receiver in the area then it would not be flagged, and they're generally pretty generous about what would constitute "in the area."

I do recall the plays and thought it was smart. Yes... he threw the ball to the sideline but a receiver was near.

 

[RoboQB]

If the QB moves outside of either Tackle, he can throw it away with no receiver in the area,
but the ball must cross the line of scrimmage.
If the QB stays between the Tackles, there must be in receiver in the area, but the ball
is not required to cross the line. (Ex: middle screen to the RB thrown at his feet)

There was at least one play where Minshew threw it away while outside the
pocket, no receiver, and barely made it past the line of scrimmage. It was close.

"Pocket lines" are set by each Tackle pre-snap.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

If the QB moves outside of either Tackle, he can throw it away with no receiver in the area,
but the ball must cross the line of scrimmage.
If the QB stays between the Tackles, there must be in receiver in the area, but the ball
is not required to cross the line. (Ex: middle screen to the RB thrown at his feet)

There was at least one play where Minshew threw it away while outside the
pocket, no receiver, and barely made it past the line of scrimmage. It was close.

"Pocket lines" are set by each Tackle pre-snap.

Thanks for the breakdown.

 

[DandyDon52]

The rule is intentionally complex and confusing, so they can call it or not call it whenever they want lol

 

[noshame]

They give them a lot of leeway on the out of bounds throws especially if it's early in the play. If there's a receiver within 15 yds there likely ok
Which stinks in my book

 

[T-RO]

The rule is intentionally complex and confusing, so they can call it or not call it whenever they want lol

NFL just *loves* fuzzy rules and mass confusion about those rules.

Think people, why might that be!?

 

[America's Cowboy]

If the QB moves outside of either Tackle, he can throw it away with no receiver in the area,
but the ball must cross the line of scrimmage.
If the QB stays between the Tackles, there must be in receiver in the area, but the ball
is not required to cross the line. (Ex: middle screen to the RB thrown at his feet)

There was at least one play where Minshew threw it away while outside the
pocket, no receiver, and barely made it past the line of scrimmage. It was close.

"Pocket lines" are set by each Tackle pre-snap.

This ^^^^

 

[DandyDon52]

NFL just *loves* fuzzy rules and mass confusion about those rules.

Think people, why might that be!?

When it confuses the announcers who have 20 years in the booth, or they say they dont know if it is or isnt lol then you know
it is not by accident that the rules are like they are.

one recently is clock stops when they go out of bounds, unless they are going backwards towards los lol.
I mean who made that rule and why??

 

[T-RO]

When it confuses the announcers who have 20 years in the booth, or they say they dont know if it is or isnt lol then you know
it is not by accident that the rules are like they are.

one recently is clock stops when they go out of bounds, unless they are going backwards towards los lol.
I mean who made that rule and why??

Go down that rabbit trail with the NFL or with a lot of other power structures...it's a deep dive most aren't brave enough to make. Let's just live in the matrix, shall we?

 

[charron]

Thanks. Maybe there were receivers nearby then.

The time he ran out of the pocket there were not because its ok to throw it away then.

 

[Creeper]

If in the pocket it has to cross the line of scrimmage or be close to an eligible receiver

This is correct and watching the game again, his throw aways were in the vicinity of a receiver. And there was pressure coming at him.

 

[NumOneQB]

There would’ve had to be receiver in the area. Refs can be generous with that.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

If the QB moves outside of either Tackle, he can throw it away with no receiver in the area,
but the ball must cross the line of scrimmage.
If the QB stays between the Tackles, there must be in receiver in the area, but the ball
is not required to cross the line. (Ex: middle screen to the RB thrown at his feet)

There was at least one play where Minshew threw it away while outside the
pocket, no receiver, and barely made it past the line of scrimmage. It was close.

"Pocket lines" are set by each Tackle pre-snap.

Yep, this is it right here. That's the correct answer.

The Eagles ran two quick outs just to give Minshew an area of reasonable doubt. The first one was close to being intentional grounding because the receiver was late getting into that area. But the second was ran pretty good, the ball went above the receiver and out of bounce. So, they covered their behinds with the quick outs, even though they weren't trying to complete them.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

I don't remember the exact plays, but supposedly you can throw the ball away if not under pressure. Grey area.

It's intentional grounding if the quarterback throws the ball, and there's no receiver in the area, while being in the pocket.

 

[TheHerd]

The rule is intentionally complex and confusing, so they can call it or not call it whenever they want lol

The entire NFL rule book is like this. The rules are vague and they provide vague examples. There's a lot of wiggle room for most rules, and I think it has to be by design if you read the rule book.

 

[blueblood70]

Yesterday near the end of the first half, Minshew dropped back on consecutive plays and threw the ball away. They were the right decisions under the circumstances, but I thought you had to be out of the pocket to throw the ball away. Does dropping back a few steps take you out of the pocket? Or was that a special situation where you can just throw the ball away? I remember the 2007 playoff game against NYG where Romo was called for intentional grounding late in the game when he did the same thing. Someone please explain the QB pocket and when is grounding supposed to be called. Thanks in advance.

tackle box is the pocket so know its sideline so side to side determines pocket ie tackle to tackle that originally set when the balls snapped.

 

[DFWJC]

Well, he threw it out of bounds each time, not to or near any receiver I could see. Each pass definitely passed the line of scrimmage, though. Does anyone remember the 2007 playoff game where Romo was flagged? I swear it was the same situation, but it was a long time ago so maybe my memory is off.

The rules have changed since 2007. They are trying to protect the QB more and more.
It was stricter back then

 

[Boyzmamacita]

The rules have changed since 2007. They are trying to protect the QB more and more.
It was stricter back then

Thanks for addressing 2007. I thought maybe it had changed since then. I wasn't implying that Minshew did anything wrong. I just needed clarification on the rule.