Unless you're an NFL rulebook nerd, you learned something new on Sunday: Refs can award an offense a touchdown if the defense repeatedly commits penalties.
Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu desperately tried to keep the Philadelphia Eagles out of the end zone early in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game. The wily veteran flew over the top of the offensive line for encroachment penalties on back-to-back plays, prompting referee Shawn Hochuli to warn Washington that a personal foul could be called. After Jonathan Allen went offside again on an Eagles hard count, Hochuli like a scolding parent, made it known to the world that referees can, indeed, award a team a touchdown for repeated penalties.
"Washington has been advised that at some point, the referee can award a score if this type of behavior happens again," Hochuli said during his in-game announcement.
The warning came to nothing, as Jalen Hurts plowed into the end zone on the next play, putting the nail in the Commanders' coffin in an eventual 55-23 Eagles win.
Luvu said after the game that he wasn't aware of the penalties for repeated offsides.
"I was just timing the jump over," Luvu said, via ESPN. "They've been doing a lot in short yardage and I was going to take my shot. That's the mindset I came in with. Take my shot; if I make it, I make it, if not, I bounce back. The third time, they told me I get a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. I didn't know what that was about. I guess they wanted them to score. So, I stopped from there and that's how it played out."
Hochuli told Pool Reporter Zach Berman that the unfair acts rule could have come into play had Washington not backed off.
"Simply put, a team can't commit multiple fouls in an effort to prevent the score," the referee said. "So, No. 4 [Luvu] jumped the ball a couple of times, that was when the warning came in. Again, if it's meant to prevent a score, we can essentially award the score."
With that, the football world became acquainted with Rule 12, Section 3, Article 2 of the NFL's rulebook.
The article in the unsportsmanlike conduction section of the rule book, titled Fouls To Prevent Score, plainly states, "The defense shall not commit successive or repeated fouls to prevent a score."
"Penalty: For successive or repeated fouls to prevent a score: If the violation is repeated after a warning, the score involved is awarded to the offensive team," the rule reads.
Even a 13-year veteran like Bobby Wagner, who spoke to refs between plays, wasn't aware they could simply award a touchdown.
"I was trying to inform them they were lined up offsides," Wagner said. "I didn't know they could just award a touchdown."
Given how potent the Eagles' "Tush Push" is, it's almost surprising that the sequence that unfolded on Sunday hasn't happened before. Giving up a half-the-distance penalty at the 1-yard-line doesn't mean much for a defense, so taking a shot at timing the snap is worth it. Perhaps at some point, refs may need to award a score for repeated penalties -- at least now, defenders can't say they didn't know the rule.
