For the love of logic, put the touch back in touchdown
It’s a contact sport. Yet players can score without contacting the end zone. Why is that?
News of the Week: Find our Week 5 recap below
All of these plays were ruled touchdowns. Yet never did the ball or ball carrier touch the end zone. From 2020 to 2023, fans witnessed this nearly 300 times.
Clockwise from top left: NBC Sports, Fox Sports, CBS Sports. Fox Sports
Airspace touchdowns 1) occur too often (almost 1 in every 4 games), 2) are farcical to watch, and 3) diminish the game we love. Fans deserve better.
Airspace touchdowns (ATDs) are:
Fix the Rule NEWS of the WEEK
Week 5 delivered some of the ugliest no-touchdowns of the season, including the first goal line leap of 2024. Funny that it came from Bo Nix, who is being coached by Sean Payton, the fellow who watched Drew Brees get credit for more than a dozen touchdowns using that approach.
Like Brees, Nix had no apparent intent of getting into the end zone. He was content to make a Brees-like bunnyhop, briefly extend the ball forward, just enough to poke a bit of end zone airspace, and by rule collect a touchdown by technicality.
Smart. Utterly insipid to watch, but shrewd as can be. Call us dreamers, but since we’re watching a contact sport, we would much prefer to see Nix (or anyone) earn a touchdown by actually contacting the end zone.
Read all about it in our Week 5 recap.
Video and image: Fox Sports
What if break-the-plane logic was applied to other games?
Hole in one
The ball is clearly breaking the plane of the cup, so it’s in. Put me down for an ace.
Home run
Who cares if the ball is in the glove? It broke the fence’s plane on the fly.
Bucket
Your corner three rimmed out? Easy. It dipped below the rim, so it’s good.
Cornhole
That bag is breaking the plane of the hole. We’ll take three points.
Ringer
Look, the shoe is breaking the plane of the stake. Three points for me.
Inside Fix the Rule
In brief
What we’re up to, in as few words as we can manage.
Concept
Learn about the Super Bowl touchdown that lit our inquisitive fuse.
New rule
Few rules are perfect, but we say our idea is better than the existing rule.
Pylons
What exactly are these orange foam antennae intended to do?
Ratings
Not all ATDs are equal. The ugliest of them earn The Full McEnroe.