Commanders kickoff returner Luke McCaffrey made the smartest play of the game by not returning a kick in Thursday night’s win over the Giants.
With McCaffrey back to field a Giants kickoff, the ball landed near the sideline at the 5-yard line. The kick stayed in bounds, and some returners would have grabbed the ball and started running. But McCaffrey let the ball bounce, then stepped out of bounds, and then grabbed the ball with his feet down on the sideline.
By rule, the ball is out of bounds if it touches a player who is out of bounds, even if the ball actually stays in bounds. By touching the ball while his feet were out of bounds, McCaffrey forced a kickoff out of bounds penalty on the Giants, putting the ball on the 40-yard line for the Commanders.
“I thought Luke McCaffrey made a really smart play that won’t show up on the stat sheet,” Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said. “That’s a difficult play. Is it out of bounds? Is it not? I was nervous about it, that’s one of the ones where you hold your breath.”
Every kickoff returner needs to know that rule, but knowing the rule is easier than having the quick-thinking ability to do what McCaffrey did, in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. It was among the smartest football plays you’ll see.