DET@TEN: Thinnest of margins

Tennessee QB Ryan Tannehill barely threads the ball inside the left pylon to break the Great Invisible Plane and walk away with six relatively easy points.

Knowing he does not have to actually contact the end zone, Tannehill uses the break-the-plane rule to his advantage, running close to the sideline to avoid tacklers, then diving at the pylon while landing far out of bounds. In essence, that out-of-bounds sideline becomes an extension of the end zone — a very handy, extra-wide scoring area. Advantage, offense. Hocus Bogus rating: 4.5

BUF@DEN: Oopsie

After years of being indoctrinated into accepting the break-the-plane rule as an ostensibly sound concept, we can understand why fans can watch Denver’s Melvin Gordon get the ball knocked out of his hands at the goal line and accept the idea that he is awarded a touchdown.

But is Gordon’s momentary poke into the end zone’s airspace, followed by a fumble, truly worth six points — the highest payout in football? Luckily for Gordon, a teammate recovered the loose ball; and we would have agreed with the officials’ initial ruling, which was to give Denver the ball, first-and-goal on or inside the 1.

But a touchdown? Without the ball carrier or ball actually touching the end zone, we think the defense did its job. No score, Rating: 4.5

JAX@BAL: Flyover

Did Jacksonville’s James Robinson briefly enter the end zone’s airspace near the right pylon after catching Gardner Minshew’s terrific touch pass? Yes, he did.

Did he ever make in-bounds contact with the end zone? No, he did not. As mentioned when discussing Ryan Tannehill’s break-the-plane touchdown earlier in this series of plays, Robinson runs wide and lands out of bounds, benefitting from what is an extended end zone. Defending an extra-wide end zone is extra tough on a defense. Rating: 4

NYJ@LAR: Stepover

As with the Tannehill and Robinson touchdowns described above, here the Jets’ Ty Johnson feels no obligation to make contact with the end zone.

The break-the-plane rule gives him, in essence, an extra-wide landing spot for his feet. So he can more easily angle away tacklers and rack up six points more easily by stepping over the corner of the end zone.  That’s easier pickings for an offense. Rating: 4