COP Play - Penalty Enforcement - 5 Man Mechanics

[NVFOA_Ump]

3rd and 5 at the A-48 yard line.  QB A-15 takes a shotgun snap and is rolling toward his right sideline looking for a receiver down field.  The U has focused his attention on dueling linemen A-54 and B-72 who he has already spoken to several times to knock off the rough play after the pass is gone.  Shortly after A-15 throws the pass across field toward the opposite sideline A-54 grabs B-72 by the facemask and puts him on the deck drawing an immediate flag.  The U then continues to keep an eye on things as A-54 suddenly turns away and heads to the far sideline to try and stop B-24 who by now is returning an intercepted pass.  B-24 is finally tackled by A-54 at the A-34 yard line.

When the 5-man crew gets together to discuss the penalty enforcement it becomes obvious that none of us know the timing of the PF penalty vs the actual COP.  What do we do now, and more importantly, what should we have done here to insure that we get this one right?

[El Macman]

No 100% perfect answer here, but, personally, I'd go with the foul as occurring before the interception, so B declines and keeps the ball. One thing is for sure - the foul did not give A an advantage. B will be happy to have the ball, so they 'shouldn't' make a big deal out of not getting the added benefit of the penalty, even if video subsequently shows the FMM as occurring after the change of possession.
Mechanically speaking, the covering official needs to keep an eye on those guys, for some sort of retaliation/escalation, so he may not have a great sense of when the foul occurred. The only help he 'might' get would from the off wing, who just might happen to see that the flag was dropped clearly before the interception, meaning the foul HAD to have occurred prior. Otherwise, it is just a 'feel.'

[Magician]

If you don't have absolute knowledge and there was a decent delay between the snap and the foul I would make it post COP and enforce from the end of the run by B.

[El Macman]

If you don't have absolute knowledge and there was a decent delay between the snap and the foul I would make it post COP and enforce from the end of the run by B.

Why?

[Diablo]

When calling a foul, know the status of the ball.  Sometimes (this time) that is easier said than done.

If the R was watching the passer, he should have known at what point the ball was thrown.  He also might have seen the flag thrown and would be able to order the interception with respect to the foul.

[Magician]

Why?

Because the foul had no impact on the play and should be penalized if possible because it's a big one.  Unless you absolutely knew it happened before the COP (and thus would be declined) err on the side of post-COP.

[chymechowder]

What if the foul had been on B?  Which side do you err on here?  Seeing as how it didn't affect the pass/pick, I'd go with B keeps the ball minus 15. But if tape shows that it was not a clean hands COP, A's got a legit gripe. That's a big swing.

[Magician]

What if the foul had been on B?  Which side do you err on here?  Seeing as how it didn't affect the pass/pick, I'd go with B keeps the ball minus 15. But if tape shows that it was not a clean hands COP, A's got a legit gripe. That's a big swing.

Definitely a different situation.  If unknown I would probably pre-COP with enforcement from previous spot (if loose ball play) or end of run (if running play).  If you do know the foul happened after COP then you would possibly be enforcing the penalty from the spot of the foul.