When a player is inside the tackle box and throws to an area where there is no reasonable receiver, it's intentional grounding, and the ball is spotted at the point of the pass; the same as if the player was sacked (with the exception of the clock).
It seems the only penalty involved is the risk of throwing the ball to a defender, but beyond that, if you have the wherewithal to get rid of it safely (a spike), two good things can happen: 1) maybe the defense gets called for a late hit and/or 2) it's ruled an incomplete pass, (so you don't lose the yardage and you stop the clock). I'm kind of surprised we don't see the intentional ground used more liberally by scrambling quarterbacks.
That said, how in the world is the QB spike to stop the clock not intentional grounding? The QB is within the tackle box, and there isn't an eligible receiver between the QB and the Center. Seems like an inconsistent application of the grounding concept.
It seems the only penalty involved is the risk of throwing the ball to a defender, but beyond that, if you have the wherewithal to get rid of it safely (a spike), two good things can happen: 1) maybe the defense gets called for a late hit and/or 2) it's ruled an incomplete pass, (so you don't lose the yardage and you stop the clock). I'm kind of surprised we don't see the intentional ground used more liberally by scrambling quarterbacks.
That said, how in the world is the QB spike to stop the clock not intentional grounding? The QB is within the tackle box, and there isn't an eligible receiver between the QB and the Center. Seems like an inconsistent application of the grounding concept.
