The game between the Chargers and Broncos got a little confusing toward the end of the first half on Thursday night when Los Angeles decided to take advantage of an obscure NFL rule known as the fair-catch kick.
With eight seconds left to play in the first half, the Broncos were facing a fourth-and-12 from their own 16-yard line, which was an obvious punting situation for Denver. Chargers returner Derius Davis called for a fair catch on the play, and that’s where the rarely used fair-catch kick came in.
Basically, the rule goes like this: If a team fair catches a punt, they’re allowed to attempt a free kick on the next play. The kick isn’t a typical field goal, either. The defense has to line up 10 yards off the ball — similar to a kickoff — and the defense is NOT allowed to try and block the kick. The “free kick” is more like a kickoff, except the kicker has to attempt the field goal off the ground and there’s also a holder (The kicker also has the option to dropkick the ball, but that almost never happens).
Here’s how the NFL describes the rule:
“After a fair catch, the receiving team has the option to put the ball in play by a snap or a fair-catch kick (field goal attempt), with fair-catch kick lines established ten yards apart. All general rules apply as for a field goal attempt from scrimmage. The clock starts when the ball is kicked. (No tee permitted.)”
Now that you know how the rule works, let’s get back to the game. Davis actually called for a fair catch from his own 38-yard line, but the Broncos were called for fair-catch interference on the play, which is a 15-yard penalty. That moved the ball to Denver’s 47-yard line, and under the fair-catch kick rule, that meant the Cameron Dicker got to attempt a field goal from that exact spot.
Dicker nailed the kick, which made him the first player since Ray Wersching in 1976 to make a fair-catch kick.
Dicker’s field…
..
