Originally Posted by
IndyBison
I glanced through this thread and saw a couple rules questions. I did not see either play so I can't speak to whether or not the call/no call is correct.
Running into/Roughing Rugby-style kicker
There are 3 ways a kicker loses his protection from roughing/running into. First, a quick kick by someone who isn't normally the kicker because it's not obvious a kick will be attempted. Similarly if a snap is bounced to the kicker or muffed, if it's not obvious he's going to kick it, he loses his protection. Second, if the kicker has had adequate time to protect himself. He's not protected from roughing for the entire down. Finally he loses his protection when he runs outside the tackle box before kicking it. You could still have a personal foul for a late hit or targeting, etc.
One thing I'll add that often plays into determining foul/no foul when the kicker muffs the snap or starts running but stays in the tackle box. The question of whether or not it's obvious a kick will be made. If the defender is doing something that appears to be blocking a kick, it's pretty obvious he knew a kick would be attempted. The action of blocking a kick and tackling a runner are very different. Lots of tricks like that to help us make those quick judgement calls.
DPI on player out of bounds
DPI can only happen on an eligible receiver. A receiver loses eligibility if he goes OOB on his own. If he went OOB on his own then he's no longer eligible. If he was pushed out he must return immediately so if he didn't do that he would also be ineligible. If the defender is holding him preventing him from coming back you could have defensive holding or a personal foul because a defender is not allowed to initiate a block when the blocker is OOB. If this was a potential DPI situation catchability can be a factor, but the threshold for that is pretty high. If the receiver is running OOB already (either on his own or being pushed) it's not likely he's going to be able to catch a pass. If he gets back in bounds and has a chance to catch it you could have a PI.
There are many factors to consider here and a combination of several rules. Ultimately it could also come down to advantage/disadvantage. Just because he defender may restrict an eligible receiver doesn't mean that contact prevented the receiver from having an an opportunity to catch the ass. The picture shared is very likely a restriction when a jersey is pulled that far, but I've seen a lot of jersey tugs that took no steps away from the receiver.