LAC@NO: The master at work

Here’s a familiar sight: Drew Brees bunny-hopping over his O-line to catch just enough end zone airspace to be credited with a break-the-plane touchdown.

“He has done this throughout his career,” ESPN analyst Brian Griese says. “He’s one of the best at it.”

That’s a fact. As we point out in Week 7, where he pulled this same stunt against Carolina, the Saints’ news site pointed to research by Pro Football Reference that showed since 2006, when he joined the Saints, Brees had at that point attempted 14 rushes from inside the 1-yard line and had recorded touchdowns on 13 of them. 

Below is an image of Brees taking advantage of the rule during a 2018 game, using it to score the go-ahead touchdown in the 4Q in a win over Tampa Bay.

We’re guessing Bress had no real intent of reaching the end zone on any of these attempts. Just jump, poke and run to the sidelines, maybe chuckling to himself, after ringing up another easy six. Can’t blame him. It’s a crafty move. But ugh, it’s not much fun to watch. Hocus Bogus rating: 5

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MIA@SF: Pound that pylon

This may not be The Bourne Supremacy, but this play does reaffirm the pylon supremacy when it comes to awarding touchdowns.

San Francisco’s Kendrick Bourne finishes off a 19-yard catch-and-run by diving not for the end zone, but for the pylon, since players have learned that banging the pylon — despite the fact that pylons are positioned in out-of-bounds territory — qualifies as a touchdown. Why not force a tackler (in this case, Miami safety Mike Rowe) to defend that extra bit of space on the edge of the goal line? Poor Mike Rowe; defending that extra space is a dirty job.

Bourne gets six even though he loses his grip on the ball when he hits the ground — out of bounds, we want to emphasize. Apparently on break-the-plane/bang-the-pylon touchdowns a player is not required to “survive the ground.” Can make scoring much simpler than that. Rating: 4

BUF@TEN: Corner-cutter

Buffalo’s Isaiah McKenzie breezes over the right corner of the end zone without stepping foot in it. He plants his right foot in front of the goal line and lands out of bounds on his left foot, enjoying the luxury of an extra-wide scoring area made possible by the break-the-plane rule. Rating: 4

LAC@NO: Happy feet

How do you put an exclamation point on a long touchdown catch-and-run? You leap over a corner of the end zone and never make contact with it.

Saints’ TE Jared Cook, well-acquainted with the break-the-plane rule, knows he doesn’t have to touch the end zone in order to get credit for a touchdown, so he just leaps right over the corner near the left pylon at the end of this 41-yard reception, made even more exciting due to the fact that New Orleans pulled it off on third-and-14.

This is an occasion where no tactical skullduggery is at work when a player elected to avoid contact with the end zone. We dig his enthusiasm. We just want him to make contact with the end zone when he celebrates. Rating: 1

BUF@TEN: Celebration No. 2

Titans’ QB Ryan Tannehill is known for punctuating his touchdown runs with a finger roll, aka the Tanneroll.

Here against the Bills he spins the ball before his feet have hit the ground. In a break-the-plane world that’s just fine. We don’t mean to be killjoys, but if our rule was in effect, where a ball carrier would be required to contact the end zone in order to earn a touchdown, we would have to rule this a fumble. But if our rule was in effect, we doubt any player would make such a move. We think. Rating: 1