Chiefs called for weirdest penalty of all-time against Browns
The Kansas City Chiefs were leading the Cleveland Browns 21-15 going into the first half of their Week 9 contest, but with nine seconds left on the clock, they were called for a penalty that left fans scratching their heads.
Spiking the football is commonly used to stop the clock. For the price of an incomplete pass and the loss of a down, a team can press the pause button on their biggest enemy, time, and attempt to collect themselves for a shot further down the field. Most teams use this when behind in the fourth quarter of games, but the Kansas City Chiefs elected to spike the ball on the Cleveland Browns’ 42-yard line with a 21-15 lead in the first half.
However, Mahomes’ decision to spike the ball in opponent’s territory backfired, as the Chiefs were called for intentional grounding on the play.
This was a bizarre penalty that left many fans confused, but FanSided reached out to the NFL, and they offered an explanation for why Mahomes was penalized for intentional grounding on a simple spiked pass. The crux of the argument? The fact that Mahomes spiked the ball during a stopped clock. Spikes are usually utilized to stop a running clock:
"A.R. 8.90 INTENTIONAL GROUNDING—SPIKE TO CONSUME TIMEFirst-and-10 on B30. The game clock is stopped with six seconds left in the first half. QBA1 takes the snap andimmediately spikes the ball into the ground to take one second off the clock so that a field-goal attempt will run out the clock.Ruling: Half over. Intentional grounding and a 10-second runoff. A QB can only spike the ball to stop a running game clock. An attempt to take time off the clock is intentional grounding."
Most fans have never seen this penalty called, but the explanation is clear. FOX Sports NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino provided a similar explanation for the penalty, so there’s no real controversy here. It’s just more weirdness in a league where it seems like fans are learning something new about the game (or the game’s rules) each week.
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The intentional grounding penalty pushed the Chiefs offense back from Cleveland’s 42-yard line to Kansas City’s 48, and Mahomes threw a “junk” interception to close the half while looking for one more big play. Of course, Kansas City were more than happy to head into half-time with a lead, especially with Mahomes once again firing on all cylinders against an overmatched Browns defense.