LAC@CLE: Leaning in, but not really a TD

Here Cleveland RB Kareem Hunt, stuck inside a churning mass of extra-large human beings, and he cannot break free. End zone access is completely denied by the Chargers’ D. All Hunt can do is learn forward and let his upper torso make a brief appearance in the end zone’s airspace. And, ta-da — that’s six points!

If asked to identify which team won this play, we think it’s likely the majority of people would choose the Chargers and their shutdown defense. No so with the break-the-plane rule. You make the tiniest unseen dent in the Great Invisible Plane, never touch the end zone, and you’ve got a touchdown.

No matter how often we see it (and as this website proves, we’ve seen a lot of airspace touchdowns), it still seems strange to us.  Hocus Bogus rating: 5

CHI@MIN: Giving it the ol’ one-two

Here’s Minnesota RB Dalvin Cook, just putting one foot in front of the other. Only on this play neither of them touch the end zone. At the goal line (we show Cook’s one-two sequence below) he plants his left foot, glides over the line, then lands out of bounds. To us, that’s not a good look for a touchdown.

Yes, it’s evident he broke the plane as he cut the corner of the end zone. In today’s game, that qualifies for six points. It just seems so inconsistent with the game’s other, more demanding rules, such as getting two feet in bounds to finish a catch.

But with our rule — which we believe a) makes more sense and b) elevates the game by requiring it to operate with more rigorous performance standards — to earn a touchdown, the first point of contact must occur inside the end zone, in bounds. That’s where touchdowns are supposed to be scored, not on its periphery.

These guys are pros. So all we ask is that they look like one and get their professional self inside the scoring area when they want six points. Rating: 4

CHI@MIN: So, so close at the pylon

This is a tremendous effort by Chicago’s Velus Jones, Jr., on a sweep right where he crash-lands at the pylon. We love the effort.

We love it so much that we feel sort of sad to point out that, by the strict interpretation of our rule, his right elbow lands out of bounds just a split second before the ball hits the goal line. So we would be duty-bound to reverse the TD call and place the ball inside the 1, second and goal.

What if the ball and Jones’s elbow had landed inside the end zone, but the momentum of his fall caused his forearm to skid a few millimeters into the pylon? Here at the site we get all huffy about the location of pylons. They’re positioned out of bounds. What then?

We’d rule it a catch. If the elbow and ball’s initial landing spots were in bounds, even by a thin margin, that’s confirmation of a catch. Give him six. Rating: 1.5

CHI@MIN: And in conclusion . . .

This game’s third and final airspace occurrence took place with 2:26 left in the game, when  Vikings WR Justin Jefferson was given two points for this no-touch airball reach inside the left pylon. They proved to be the final points in a 29-22 Minnesota win.

If the rules allow it, why not take it, right? Who can fault the players for such thinking? We just think calls such as this contrast sharply with the higher standards of play we see enforced elsewhere during a game. Too bad. Rating: 4

MIA@NYJ: Let’s punish that pylon

Pretty simple: While running pell mell, the Jets’ Braxton Berrios plows head-first into a pylon, and the ball smacks into the orangey obelisk about halfway up its 18-inch height. As we repeatedly point out, pylons are positioned outside the field of play and thus not suitable for indicating a successful score. Rating: 4

SEA@NO: Long dash and a pylon crash

Admittedly, our screenshot below is a fuzzy mess, yet it still makes the following obvious: Saints’ QB Taysom Hill, chased down at the end of his 60-yard dash, lands out of bounds on his ball-carrying right elbow. 

In addition, his legs have yet to cross the goal line. Apparently because he made contact with the pylon (even though it is located outside the field of play), Hill was awarded a touchdown. This proved to be the final score in a 39-32 New Orleans victory. Rating: 4

TEN@WAS: This door is slammed shut

Even Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, one of the hardest runners in the early 2020s, sometimes gets stoned at the line. It happened here, due to some stout interior line play by Washington’s defense. Yet Henry still walks away with six points after poking his beak into end zone’s airspace for maybe a half second. This type of play is not the reason fans love to watch Derrick Henry run. Rating: 4

NYG@GB: Another end zone step-over

What might Green Bay’s Allen Lazard be thinking at this moment? Maybe: “Look, everybody, I can make my first step after crossing the goal line out of bounds, and they still give me a touchdown. What a country!” Rating: 4

NYG@GB: Feeling a little flippant

If the break-the-plane rule ever does change, Saquon Barkley will have to rethink his post-score celebration. As he did during Week 13 vs. Washington, here Barkley flips the ball skyward after he crosses the goal line but before he touches the end zone. Actually, on this run he bypasses the end zone altogether. It’s good for laughs now.  With our rule, he would need to plant first, flip later. Rating: 4