MIA@NE: Odd on many levels

Did New England QB Cam Newton step out of bounds before he broke the plane or hold the ball above the pylon? And did he actually accomplish either of those criteria in order to receive the touchdown he was awarded? 

As we see it, Miami LB Jerome Baker (55) blasts Newton with a hard hit just in front of the goal line and knocks him out of bounds.

The simple fact is, Newton never contacted any part of the end zone except (possibly) its airspace. And we turn up our opinionated noses at airspace touchdowns. Hocus Bogus rating: 4.5

SEA@ATL: Blink and you’ll miss it

After playing five seasons with the Rams, this play is Todd Gurley’s first touchdown in the state where the Georgia grad played college ball. It’s a yawner.

Gurley gets popped by Seattle’s K.J. Wright 50), pushed by fellow LB Bobby Wager (54), and has his legs wrapped up by CB Lano Hill (42). The Seattle defense begins celebrating what it thinks is a stop on third-and-goal.

Yet because for a maybe a second he was able to lean the ball over the goal line, Gurley was credited for breaking the Great Invisible Plane and awarded six points. And zero love for a group of disappointed defenders who succeeded in keeping Gurley from making contact with the end zone.

Do touchdown plays get any more exciting than this? Only about 99 percent of them. This is why we want to put the touch back in touchdown. Rating: 4.5

AZ@SF: Another pylon puzzler

As he lunges forward, Arizona RB Chase Edmonds barely clips the outside edge of the pylon with the ball. A pylon is 4 inches x 4 inches (and 18 inches high). The rulebook states that a pylon is outside the field of play. All four of its sides are positioned on the white out-of-bounds sideline. 

Yet even if a player just scrapes the ball on the outside edge of a pylon, as Edmonds does here, it’s ruled a touchdown. That means the goal line is four inches wider at the spot where each pylon sits. We confess we’re baffled how this has come to be accepted as rational logic throughout football. Rating: 4.5

AZ@SF: Corner cutter

Arizona QB Kyler Murray is at his elusive best on this 22-yard scramble run, though his first step beyond the goal line lands partially out of bounds.

The break-the-plane rule spares Murray any embarrassment, but if our rule was in play, his first contact beyond the goal line would need to be in bounds if he wants six points. Rating: 3

DAL@LAR: A hop, skip and a jump

Judged against the other airspace touchdowns that occurred during Week 1, this celebratory hop by the Rams’ Malcom Brown seems frivolous.

Knowing he has the break-the-plane rule to bail him out, Brown celebrates an easy touchdown by springing over the corner of the end zone and landing out of bounds. We’re happy he’s happy. We just want to point out that if our rule was in place, where a ball carrier must make contact with the end zone to be credited with a score, he would need to dream up a different dance. Rating: 1