GB@IND: Goal line leaners (pt. 1)

Week 2: It’s a common football phrase that conveys a positive impression: “Their defense bends but does not break.” It implies the opposing offense may come close to the end zone but lacks the firepower to break through.

But Week 2 of the 2025 preseason provided four forehead-slapping examples of ball carriers who never contacted the end zone, yet managed to briefly bend into its airspace. And we as fans are expected to accept such unconvincing effort as worthy of six points — supposedly of equal value to a brilliant catch or a runner ripping through a D line with the force of a Coast Guard cutter.

Check out these four faux touchdowns, where none of the ball carriers, starting with Green Bay’s Israel Abanikanda (23), ever get their feet to the goal line. But thanks to a momentary lean into end zone airspace, they get to walk away (undeservedly, in our view) with six points. Hocus Bogus Rating: 4.5

SF@LV: Goal line leaner, pt. 2

Week 2: Sorry to cast shade on Ashton Jeanty’s first score as a professional, but 1) his feet never reached the goal line, and 2) the ball flew out of his hands the moment he started to extend it toward the end zone. Nothing touchdown-worthy to see here. Hocus Bogus Rating: 4.5

NYJ@NYG: Goal line leaner, pt. 3

Week 2: Who makes the better football play here? Giants’ QB Jameis Winston, who never gets his feet to the goal line before the whistle blows? Or Jets’ linebackers Jackson Simon (49) and Ja’Markis Weston (54), who stand Winston up and block his path to the end zone? Doesn’t it seem odd to reward Winston for failing to push his way into the end zone? Hocus Bogus Rating: 4.5

CIN@WAS: Goal line leaner, pt. 4

Week 2: Cincinnati’s Chase Brown is stoned at the goal line by Washington’s defense, but he is saved by the break-the-plane rule. Never does he contact the end zone, yet he is awarded six points. Tough break for a defense that made an excellent play. Rating: 4.5

MIA@DET: Another pylon puzzler

Week 2: Miami’s Dee Eskridge flies past a pylon, never contacts the goal line/end zone, lands fully out of bounds . . . and is still awarded a touchdown. Is barely grazing the end zone’s airspace really worth six points?  Rating: 4.5

LV@SEA: In-game flyover

Week 1: Does Seattle running back George Holani touch any part of the end zone as he flies over the pylon? No. Does he get credit for a touchdown? Yes. Strange days indeed, sang John Lennon. Most peculiar, mama. Hocus Bogus Rating: 5

TEN@TB: A great mystery

Week 1: How do you call this a touchdown? Seriously, how? This group of refs decided that a ball carrier dropping the ball in midair as he flies past a pylon before landing out of bounds is worth six points. Wow. We include an extended clip that includes the announcers’ discussion of the call’s (non)logic. Rating: 5

DEN@SF: More pylon follies

Week 1: What is the job of a defensive player? To keep ball carriers from the opposing team out of the end zone. San Francisco rookie Nick Martin does this on this play. Yet the officials instead reward another rookie, Denver’s Caden Prieskorn, with six points for never touching the end zone, just waving the nub of the ball near the pylon before he crashes out of bounds. Seem fair to you? Rating: 4.5

HOU@MIN: Flopping, pt. 1

Week 1: It’s just plain easier to get credited for six points when you don’t have to get into the end zone. Just lay on top of a bunch of bodies and hope the refs think you might have briefly entered its airspace. Simple, but lame. Rating: 4.5

CIN@PHI: Flopping, pt. 2 (Tush Flop)

Week 1: For those who dislike Philadelphia’s Tush Push, here’s a reason to dislike it even more: It promotes flopping. Just slide up your center’s backside with a push from behind and just lie there. Don’t make the effort to actually make contact with the end zone. Refs are happy to give you close-enough credit, which equals six (unmerited, in our view) points. Rating: 4.5