The Tennessee Titans beat the Miami Dolphins 31-12 on Monday Night Football in Week 4. Miami briefly had the ball down 10 with 2:33 remaining, but Tyler Huntley was called for intentional grounding in the end zone which essentially ended the game. And yet that's when things got interesting.
Forced to take a free kick from the 20-yard line after the safety, the Dolphins announced they were attempting an onside kick, but used their punter to do so. Jay Bailey kicked the ball high in the air and it dropped to the ground near midfield, where it bounced once, and was caught by one of the Dolphins players.
The players, coaches, announcers and for a moment the officials had no idea what the rule was here. I guess it landed beyond the landing zone? pic.twitter.com/8TWXVxLNce
— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) October 1, 2024
Watching live you would have seen Titans special teams coordinator Colt Anderson screaming on the sideline because none of his players made a fair catch. Except the decision not to field the kick resulted in a penalty on the Dolphins because the kick went past the set up zone as rules analyst Jerry Bergman kind of explained on the broadcast.
The official announcement from the head referee cited the fact that the ball went beyond the landing zone, but the call resulted in the Titans taking over at the 10, which meant that by not making the fair catch, the Titans gained more than 40 yards in field position. Or at least that's what seems to have happened.
The ESPN broadcast led by Chris Fowler didn't really answer any questions because they didn't appear to know what was happening either. Nor did many people watching on television.
so with the onside kick there’s this landing zone pic.twitter.com/7xJN9IF8WL
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) October 1, 2024
The onside kick went too far under the new onside kick rules.
— Fᴏᴏᴛʙᴀʟʟ Zᴇʙʀᴀs🇺🇦 (@footballzebras) October 1, 2024
The kick landed outside the landing zone, which is a penalty
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) October 1, 2024
Titans get the ball at the 10-yard line, which....what? https://t.co/2153e93pPS
Dolphins inventing new penalties now
— Rohan Nadkarni (@RohanNadkarni) October 1, 2024
The new NFL kickoff rules remain an adventure for everyone, including fans, broadcasters, players, and even coaches.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Free Kick in Dolphins - Titans Game Confuses Everyone Thanks to New Kickoff Rules.
