An NFL Quarterback Outside The Pocket Can Throw It Away. Inside, It Is Grounding.

Fans often treat any throwaway as grounding, or none of them. The rulebook draws a precise line, and it is the pocket.

The definition

Rule 8, Section 2, Article 1: it is a foul for intentional grounding if a passer, facing an imminent loss of yardage because of pressure from the defense, throws a forward pass that is not in the direction and vicinity of an originally eligible offensive receiver. The pass does not have to be incomplete for the foul to apply.

The pocket exception

Rule 3, Section 25 defines the pocket area as the area between the outside edges of the normal tackle positions on each side of the center, extending back to the offensive team's end line. Grounding will not be called when a passer who is outside, or has been outside, the pocket area throws a pass that lands at or beyond the line of scrimmage extended, including out of bounds, even if no receiver has a realistic chance to catch it.

A passer is out of the pocket area if any part of his body or the ball is outside the pocket area.

The penalty

• 01Loss of down and 10 yards from the previous spot
• 02Or loss of down at the spot of the pass, if that spot is more than 10 yards back
• 03A safety if the passer's entire body and the ball are in his own end zone when he throws