Packers exploited a little-known rule with an ingenious play on a kickoff

NFL

Green Bay Packers return man Ty Montgomery exploited a little-known rule against the Lions on Sunday that resulted in the ref correctly flagging for an out-of-bounds kick, despite the fact that the ball was not actually out of bounds. 

In the first half, the Lions kicked off and the ball died inside the field, on the 2-yard line. But rather than picking it up and trying to gain a few extra yards, Montgomery instead ran around the ball and, when his feet were out of bounds, fell on top of it.

Because Montgomery was out of bounds when he retrieved the kick, the refs had no choice but to flag the play for a kickoff landing out of bounds.  As a result, the Packers started on the 40-yard line.

Here's the play: 

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With a new kickoff rule in place this season, most of the special-teams ingenuity we've seen has come from the kicking team. Montgomery, though, showed his savviness on the other side of the ball. 

The Packers wound up scoring a touchdown on the drive.

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