DET@DAL: Logic reports as eligible

The whole did-he-or-did-he-not-report fiasco that tainted the closing minutes of the Lions-Cowboys game would not have happened if our rule had been in place.

Our rule states that ball carriers must make contact, however minimal, with the end zone to be awarded a touchdown. The ball has to come with them and at least reach the goal line. That’s worthy of six points.

Amon St. Brown does pass through a little end zone airspace as he dives forward, meaning he has met the criterion for a break-the-plane touchdown. But to us, that’s a lousy rule, and we would not have called this a touchdown.

St. Brown never contacts the end zone, because Cowboys cornerback Stephon Gilmore (21) bangs him out of bounds before he can touch paydirt. We would line Detroit up inside the 1 and make them run another play. Gilmore has done his job — kept an opponent out of the end zone. 

Not good enough, though, according to the existing rule. To us, that means the existing rule is not good enough. Hocus Bogus rating: 4.5 

CAR@JAX: Goal line follies

Here’s a prime candidate for a first-team All-Ugly Award in airspace touchdowns in 2023. Few ATDs are more logic-defying than this reach-and-fumble by Jacksonville’s Travis Etienne.

Etienne, wrapped up at the 1 by Carolina tackle Shy Tuttle (99), breaks free just long enough to reach the ball forward, hoping to break that magical plane. 

Often this is a risky move. On this occasion teammate Luke Farrell (89), sitting on the goal line, appears to try and take the ball from Etienne and get credit for a touchdown via manifest end zone destiny. Instead, he jars the ball out of Etinenne’s hands. A mad scramble ensures back at the 2.

None of this matters because, as rules analyst Gene Steretore explains, the break-the-plane rule stipulates that the millisecond a ball carrier gouges the goal line’s airspace, the play is over. Six points are instantly on the board, That’s a big break for the risk-taking Etienne.

Receivers enjoy no such luxury. Not only must they plant both feet in bounds, they must also retain possession of the ball while getting battered by defenders or while crashing to the ground. And for all that they get no points, just a catch. The break-the-plane rule sure makes life easy for ball carriers. Rating: 4.5

ATL@CHI: No touch, no problem

How do you make the end zone, already 53 and ⅓ yards wide, even wider? Follow the footsteps of Chicago QB Justin Fields, who here is playing a combo of football and dodge ‘em.

Atlanta safety Demarcco Hellams (37) has done his job. He has blocked Fields’ path to the end zone, where touchdowns are meant to be scored.

In response, Fields shrewdly exploits the permissive break-the-plane rule, which makes it possible for him to run way wide of the end zone, avoid tacklers such as Hellams, wave the ball at the pylon, and collect six points without the inconvenience of actually fighting into the end zone.

Lucky Hellams; he’s forced to defend an extra-wide scoring area, thanks to break-the-plane logic. What a rule. Rating: 5

MIA@BAL: No touch, no problem, pt. 2

Why would we rule this as not a touchdown? Because Baltimore’s Isaiah Likely, following a furious 35-yard dash down the sidelines, never makes contact with the end zone. Two Miami defenders chase him down and prevent him from making contact with the official, physical, visible scoring area. They forced him to land fully out of bounds. It would seem they did their jobs.

Yet because Likely is believed to whooshed through a sliver of end zone airspace, he walks off with six points. That’s a tough fate for the D. Rating: 4.5

NYJ@CLE: No touch, no problem, pt. 3

Why would we rule this as not a touchdown? Because Cleveland’s Jerome Ford, despite his determined effort, never makes contact with the end zone. He does pass through a fragment of its airspace, but he never makes contact with the designated scoring area.

Imagine you’re playing darts. You try slinging a dart sidearm. It zings through a bit of dartboard airspace as it heads for the all behind the board, landing to the side of it. Would you expect points even though you missed making contact with the game’s physical scoring area? We didn’t think so. Rating: 4.5

GB@MIN: Just shy, to our eye

This one is close. Green Bay’s Jordan Love goes full-out trying to reach the end zone and, from what we can see, he falls just short of it. Officials, though, give him credit for clipping a bit of goal line airspace as he was dropping to the ground, and that judgment call gives the Packers six points.

We prefer conclusive touchdowns, no-doubters. Some will argue that it’s not worth the bother, the offense will score on the next play from such a short distance. Not always. If an offense is going to be rewarded with six points, we think they should earn it. Can you reach the end zone (not just pass through the ether that hovers above it)? Then we want to see you prove it. Rating: 3.5

PIT@SEA: A shift in perspective

If our rule was ever enacted — to earn six points, a ball carrier must make first contact with the end zone when the ball is on or across the goal line — then some plays that initially look like legit touchdowns, even to us, will fall short of that standard.

That happens here when Pittsburgh’s Najee Harris meets the requirement for a break-the-plane touchdown, but because his lower body hits the ground in front of the goal line before his right arm (with the ball) makes contact with the end zone. If someday that becomes the standard, then this would not be a touchdown. Players and fans, we believe, will adapt. Rating: 1.5