LV@NO: Sleight of hand; ugly to watch

Rarely does an airspace touchdown draw bigger eyerolls than this.

Alvin Kamara comes close to the goal line on this catch-and-run, but Las Vegas safety Tre’von Moehrig (25) shoulder-pops him before he can get there and drives him back. Pretty solid play.

Recognizing his progress is stopped, Kamara takes what the rule book gives him — a touchdown by technicality, as he shrewdly extends his arm, breaks the Great Invisible Plane, and gets credit for a no-touch touchdown. So lame.

In soccer, as a soccer official who reviewed this play pointed out to us, all that is needed for a goal to be awarded is just what we see in Kamara’s extension — the ball must cross the goal line and completely enter the goal’s airspace.

That works for soccer, where the ball is a projectile launched by a player outside the goal. In American football, the ball must be transported into the scoring area (the end zone) by a player who is griping (i.e., possessing) it. To us, an effort such as Kamara’s, however dramatic, is incomplete. In our view, he needs to make contact with the end zone and bring the ball with him. For a contact sport such as football, doesn’t that make sense?

When people ask us what we mean by a Nix Six — a play ruled a touchdown that is undeserving of such a call — this is one of the first examples we put on display. This a “football move”? C’mon, man. Hocus Bogus rating: 5

TEN@HOU: Let’s put our rule to the test

It’s possible, we suppose, that some readers might think this website is run by a bunch of anti-touchdown killjoys. (Totally not true. As we’ve written before, we don’t want fewer touchdowns, we want better touchdowns.) ,

But, in case any readers harbor that misperception, let’s imagine our rule is in place for this run by Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, ruled a touchdown at the time because he either a) hit the pylon, b) flew over it, or c) broke the goal line’s plane.

We say no to all three of those reasons because 1) pylons are positioned out of bounds, so we believe hitting one or soaring over one should never earn you a TD, and 2) breaking the plane is a similarly arcane rule that defies logic, as we have explained elsewhere. 

On this play, Henry launches himself from the 2, gets smacked in midair by Texans’ DB Desmond King (excellent pursuit, good angle), flies over the pylon and lands out of bounds on his left shoulder. Touchdown? Per our rule, no way.

But wait! The end zone replay shows Henry, as he is cartwheeling out of bounds, touches the end zone with his right hand. That completely changes our outlook. The question becomes: What was Henry’s first point of contact beyond the goal line? His left shoulder (out of bounds) or his right hand (in bounds)?

We don’t have the benefit of a super slo-mo replay to definitively determine that. As best as we can tell (see below), and it is so close, Henry’s shoulder lands a millisecond before his hand touches. So we say no TD. First-and-goal inside the 1.

But if his hand DID first touch the end zone, our rule calls that a touchdown. We say all you need to do to earn a TD is make first contact beyond the goal line in the end zone, even if it’s just by a pinkie finger, or even your pinkie’s fingernail. You just need some body part, however minimal, to touch.

What if our rule was in place, the officials on the field signaled touchdown, and the replay was too close to call to support reversing the call? As is today’s standard, the ruling on the field stands. We accept that. Officials do their best, we trust them to be fair and informed, they make a call, and we move on.

As for this play, by existing rule interpretations? Yikes. Hocus Bogus rating: 4.5

AZ@MIN: Pylon poke-’em . . . 

As we repeatedly point out on this site, goal line pylons are positioned outside the field of play. Thus we remain mystified why players, such as Arizona TE Zach Ertz on this occasion, are credited for a touchdown just because they’re able to doink one, especially while their bodies hover in out-of-bounds airspace.

It sure looks impressive. But where is the logic in such a ruling? Rating: 4.5

CIN@CLE: . . . more plyon poke-’em . . .

Players just love taking advantage of the extra four inches available at each end of the goal link, courtesy of the league rule (Rule 11, Section 2, Article 1) that awards a touchdown for touching any part of the 4″ x 4″ pylon. Here Jacoby Brissett, who lands out of bounds a split-second after the scene below, takes his turn. Rating: 4.5

AZ@MIN: . . . and more pylon poke-’em

And to complete the Week 8 trifecta of goofy maneuvers ruled touchdowns . . .

Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins, seeking to avoid Arizona safety Budda Baker (3), shies away from the end zone and instead flies past the pylon, taking the extra-wide and strangely legal way to collect six points. Rating: 4.5

CAR@ATL: Cut the corner, get a score

Here Atlanta’s Tyler Allgeier steps over the goal line (breaking the Great Invisible Plane) but, as so often occurs, never touching the end zone.

Why? Because Carolina DB Jaycee Horn (8) had the angle on Allgeier’s path and,  just before the goal line, pushed him off course. A good defensive play.

But history will show it was a TD. It seems unjust to us that Horn gets no credit for making a solid hit after a lengthy pursuit and keeping Allgeier out of the end zone (though he did slip through a fraction of its airspace). Meanwhile, Allgeier gets credit for a touchdown — to us, a touchdown by technicality, because he never made contact with the end zone. That doesn’t seem right. Rating: 3.5