Sports

At the end of a blowout that few fans were still watching on Sunday, an obscure aspect of the NFL's kickoff rules led to a highly unusual situation.

With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Bengals quarterback Jake Browning was sacked in the end zone for a safety, giving the Lions a 37-24 lead. The Bengals then had a safety kick from the 20 yard line, and declared that they would attempt an onside kick.

Bengals punter Ryan Rehkow kicked the ball 26 yards on the safety kick, which is one yard farther than an onside kick is permitted to travel. Under the NFL's new kickoff rules, twas an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Rehkow for kicking the ball past the setup zone on an onside kick.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is 15 yards from the spot of the kick, which on a normal onside kick would mean the receiving team gets the ball at the 10-yard line. But on an onside safety kick, the spot of the kick is the 20-yard line, which means an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is half the distance to the goal line, or the 10-yard line.

So the Lions' offense then took the field, with first-and-goal from the 10-yard line. The Lions just ran out the clock from there, but if they hadn't already had a big lead late in the game, first-and-goal from the 10-yard line would obviously be a very beneficial place for an offense to start a drive, which makes an onside kick past the setup zone a huge penalty.

Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp called it an interesting occurrence and a part of the new kickoff rule that special teams coaches need to know.

"With the new onside kick rule, the ball's got to stay within 25 yards," Fipp said. "That one happened to be a post-safety kickoff, or punt, but either way the ball's got to stay within 25 yards. . . . The ball went too far, so in that case the penalty takes it half the distance to the goal line, from the 20 it goes to the 10."

It's a little-known aspect of the NFL's new kickoff rules, that overshooting the setup zone on an onside kick results in a massive penalty to the kicking team.

The Browns have not said whether Shedeur Sanders will serve as their No. 2 quarterback for Sunday's game against the Steelers, but his comments on Thursday suggest he sees this week's trade of Joe Flacco as moving him a step closer to his first NFL action.

Dillon Gabriel's backup will either be Sanders or Bailey Zappe, who is on the team's practice squad, and Sanders said on Wednesday that he's "thankful" for any role that the Browns have in mind for him. He also said that it feels good to see a path to getting on the field taking shape.

"I'm in a great mental space overall," Sanders said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com. "So I would say you tend to get a little bit more excited when you see a light at the end of the tunnel, for sure."

Sanders said he is "going to make sure we do everything we can to make sure Dillon's ready for the game" while also preparing himself in the event that his number is called.

The Browns have until Saturday to elevate Zappe to the active roster, so a hint about the team's decision for this weekend may not come on Friday.