For the love of logic, put the touch back in touchdown
It’s a contact sport. Yet players can score without contacting the end zone. Why is that?
News Desk: Pylon puzzlers from Week 1. See below.
All of these plays were ruled touchdowns. Yet never did the ball or ball carrier touch the end zone. Since 2020, fans have witnessed this more than 350 times.
Clockwise from top left: NBC Sports, Fox Sports, CBS Sports. Fox Sports
Airspace touchdowns 1) occur too often (almost 1 in every 4 games), 2) are farcical to watch, and 3) diminish the game we love. Fans deserve better.
Fix the Rule News: Pylon pokes abound
Pylon, those orange foam sticks planted at the ends of the goal lines, are completely out of bounds. Yet if a ball carrier hits one with the ball while he’s running out of bounds, that’s good for six points.
Why is striking an out-of-bounds object worthy of six points? We have no idea. That’s just the reality of the game of football, a reality this website would love to see changed someday. The chances of that happening are closer to none than slim, but we push onward, hoping a few likeminded souls will share our website with friends and colleagues. And football coaches.
Four airspace touchdowns occurred during Week 1 of the new season, three of them being pylon pokes, such as one by Patrick Mahomes. We also have the 10 strangest pylon-poke touchdowns of the 2024 season on display in our Film Room, along with a video showcase of the worst pylon fly-by touchdowns of 2024.
No-touch touchdowns continue to baffle us, six years after this site was launched. We will document all that we see as the new season progresses.
We invite you to view our Week 1 recap as well as our compilation clips in our Film Room. Thanks for checking out our site.
Video and game image: YouTubeTV
What if break-the-plane logic was applied to other games?
Hole in one
The ball is clearly breaking the plane of the cup, so it’s in. Put me down for an ace.
Home run
Who cares if the ball is in the glove? It broke the fence’s plane on the fly.
Bucket
Your corner three rimmed out? Easy. It dipped below the rim, so it’s good.
Cornhole
That bag is breaking the plane of the hole. We’ll take three points.
Ringer
Look, the shoe is breaking the plane of the stake. Three points for me.
Inside Fix the Rule
In brief
What we’re up to, in as few words as we can manage.
Concept
Learn about the Super Bowl touchdown that lit our inquisitive fuse.
New rule
Few rules are perfect, but we say our idea is better than the existing rule.
Pylons
What exactly are these orange foam antennae intended to do?
Ratings
Not all ATDs are equal. The ugliest of them earn The Full McEnroe.