WAS@TB: Tough D, but an easy six

Tampa Bay defenders Antoine Winfield Jr. (31), Jamel Dean (35) and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (9) do an excellent job of keeping Washington RB Brian Robinson out of the end zone. Robinson never touches the end zone.

Their reward for all that effort? A failing grade, but only because Robinson was ruled to have momentarily, and inadvertently, swung the ball into a small fraction of the end zone’s airspace. That’s good enough, fans have been hypnotized to believe, for six points. Crazy. Hocus Bogus Rating: 4.5

LAR@DET: Coming up short

The Rams’ Cooper Kupp plants his right foot inches in front of the goal line before his left foot glides above the end zone and lands out of bounds, never touching the designated scoring area.

We would call this play a float-over, not a touchdown, because the ball carrier touched nothing that would earn him six points.

Cornerback Terrion Arnold (0) succeeds at keeping Kupp out of the end zone, just not out of its airspace. Seems like a cheap six. Hocus Bogus Rating: 4.5

LAR@DET: This is a stretch

Touchdowns produce the highest payout in football, six points. As such we believe they should demand the highest standards of execution.

We argue that to qualify as a touchdown, a six-point play, a ball carrier’s first contact should be with some part, however small, of the end zone — the designated scoring area.

Here, Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs lands on his left shoulder in front of the goal line. The end zone is untouched. But because he manages to briefly wave the ball over the goal line, he is credited with a no-touch touchdown. That seems weak. Hocus Bogus Rating: 4

MIN@NYG: By a toe

This is not the worst example of an airspace touchdown, but Minnesota’s Aaron Jones just barely nicks the sideline with the edge of his foot as he cuts the corner of the end zone, running wide to avoid a defender.

The break-the-plane rule means defenders must defend an extra-wide end zone area since ball carriers can fly over the end zone without touching it, land out of bounds, and still get credit for a touchdown. Evidence that it’s tough to be a defender. Hocus Bogus Rating: 2