IND@MIN: Lean machine

Much like teammate Justin Jefferson in Week 1, Minnesota’s T.J. Hockenson gets credit for six points just by being in the vicinity of a pylon.

Like Jefferson, he never touches the end zone, but because he waves the ball through a wee wedge of the end zone’s airspace en route to falling out of bounds, the break-the-plane rule regards this as a triumphant accomplishment. Give this man the highest point total the game makes available.

We say, if you don’t contact the end zone, you do not collect six points. Pretty simple. How is it football fans have come to accept this rule, and outcomes such as this, as sensible? Hocus Bogus Rating: 5

MIA@NYJ: Pylon two-step

Miami’s Malik Willis should be applauded for not just trying to sneak the ball through a corner of the end zone’s airspace. He makes a legitimate attempt to reach the end zone; he simply fails. Jets’ safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (29) wins this play by banging Willis out of bounds before he can contact the end zone.

It doesn’t matter, though. The break-the-plane rule awards Willis with six points because he backed his way through a tiny corner of the end zone’s airspace before he reached his out-of-bounds destination. That’s backwards logic for a backwards touchdown. Rating: 3.5

SF@ATL: Over and out

Here we have another touchdown by technicality. San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey tries to springboard far enough to break the end zone’s Great Invisible Plane, and it is of no consequence to him if he successfully vaults the Falcons’ defensive front or not.

The liberality of the break-the-plane rule grants a ballcarrier six points for briefly gouging the end zone’s airspace. No need to do something demonstrative, like actually break through and contact the designated scoring area. Just make a cameo appearance and collect six points. Sorry, defense; your stout denial of end zone access is somehow considered inferior. Rating: 5

NYG@HOU: Wiggle room

Unlike many, we endorse the tush push. It’s a tactic that captures football’s primal essence: strength vs. strength. Let the stronger team win.

The play, however, should require the ballcarrier (in this case, New York’s Jameis Winston) to actually contact the end zone, not just lay back and flop into the end zone’s airspace and recline on a heap of defenders. That’s a lazy man’s path to six points, and it should be disallowed. Go ahead and make your push; just be sure your tush actually finishes the job and hits paydirt. Rating: 4