Distance to go for a first ...

[Todd Pence]

IIRC, Miami converted a third-and-44 in their win over Notre Dame in 1989.

[rhickok1109]

Way back on November 28, 1926, the Duluth Eskimos moved the ball to the Providence Steam Roller 5-yard line. They were then hit with 15-yard penalties on three consecutive plays, making it first-and-goal from the 50-yard line.

On the next play, the Eskimos "accidentally" knocked all the officials out of commission and the game was pronounced to have ended, although it was only about halfway through the fourth quarter. It was a scoreless tie.

[65 toss power trap]

Although it was usually the same spot as the foul, the holding penalty was a 15-yard foul enforced from the dead-ball spot. It is what tripped up Norm Schachter's crew, since it almost treated the same as a dead-ball foul, except for repeating the down. They marked off a penalty on a sack, but they inadvertently counted the down. The entire crew was suspended for the last week of the season and ineligible for postseason.

The Super Bowl V penalty was #49 of the "50 Super Bowl calls" that my staff and I wrote about on Football Zebras:

Late in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys were moving the ball, when Norm Schachter’s crew whistled the Cowboys for offensive holding on a sack of quarterback Craig Morton (penalty flag is in the left part of the photo). Back then holding was a whopping 15-yard penalty from the dead-ball spot. The sack occurred nine yards behind the line of scrimmage, so when Schachter finished his walk-off, the Cowboys lost 24 yards on one penalty.

The next play was 2nd-and-35, and the Cowboys were intercepted by Colts linebacker Mike Curtis, setting up the drive that culminated with the winning field goal with seconds remaining.

If you are going to make a big, drive-sustaining or drive-killing call in the Super Bowl, you’d better be sure. Although video of the play is elusive, knowing the strong personalities that made up the Super Bowl V crew, I’m sure the call was there.

http://www.footballzebras.com/2016/02/0 ... ls-part-1/

The evolution of the holding rule was quite unusual:

• 1971 -- Holding on a passing play was enforced from the previous spot (in effect for Super Bowl V, but did not apply to sacks)
• 1974 -- Holding in offensive backfield or no more than 3 yds beyond the line of scrimmage was reduced to 10 yards.
• 1975 -- Offensive holding behind the line of scrimmage was assessed from the previous spot.

There is a quirk that remains in the holding rules: Downfield offensive holding on a running play is still assessed from the spot of the foul. (By definition, a passing play becomes a running play after the catch.) This leads to unusual situations, such as a 1st-and-2 when the hold occurs 18 yards downfield. It is still a 1st-and-10 if the ball is beyond the first-down line after the penalty is assessed.

[Rupert Patrick]

I hate to be the guy who revives an old topic, but I just came across an article in the Oxnard CA Press Courier 10/16/1948 Pg 2, discussing the previous nights LA Dons Chicago Rockets AAFC game. The article says, and I quote, "At one point, it was third down and 72 yards to go for Los Angeles, after a series of penalties and losses."

[Mark L. Ford]

IMO, reviving an old topic in order to share an important discovery is ALWAYS welcome, Rupert. Thanks for locating and posting that info.

[JeffreyMiller]

That's a great discovery, Rupert! Thanks for sharing.

[Todd Pence]

But you didn't tell us whether they converted.

[Evan]

Okay, I've been looking for this anecdote for about a decade, and just stumbled upon it, so just wanted to add to this string for the record.

Sept. 19, 1976, Giants at Philadelphia (this was the game highlighted in the Vince Papale movie Invincible)

Giants had a 3rd and 55.

The sequence went like this, as reported in Newsday.

Early in the 3rd Qtr, Philadelphia leading 13-0

Giants ball
1-10 on PHI 35 Gordon Bell rush (-5)
2-15 on PHI 40 Center Ralph Hill holding (-10), negating a 37-yard pass from Morton to Gillette
2-25 at 50 Hill personal foul - hit Bill Bergey in the face (-15), negating a 1-yard loss on an end-around by Ray Rhodes
2-40 at NYG 35 Morton incomplete pass
3-40 at NYG 35 Tackle Tom Mullen clip (-15)
3-55 at NYG 20 Doug Kotar sweep +7
4-48 at NYG 27 Jennings punt

Philly wound up winning 20-7. After the game, Hill said that after his second straight penalty "I thought maybe I should have stayed home. I figured I can't do nothing right."

Larry Csonka said "I don't know of any play which would be good for a third-and-55. And i'm glad I'm not a quarterback."

Craig Morton declined comment.

[BD Sullivan]

Mike Ditka's memorable 11/24/63 63-yard reception, in which he broke a series of tackles, came on 2nd-and-35. That run, with about five minutes left and the Bears trailing by three, helped set up the game-tying FG, which ultimately helped the Bears avoid a playoff game against the Packers.

Surprised there's been no mention of the Eagles' 4th-and-26 conversion.

[65 toss power trap]

Working on a post for the regular season, but here's a sequence from the Lions game in 1983 that just kept going backwards, even after everyone thought they were done:

https://streamable.com/9h5ve