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: The bunnyhop returns in Week 9. 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: Back to the bunnyhop
In a hard-hitting game governed by demanding rules, is it logical to make collecting six points comparatively easy?
Trevor Lawrence brought back the bunnyhop touchdown during Week 9, breaking out the tactic in overtime to score the deciding points in a win over the Raiders. It’s the light and fluffy alternative to the tush push.
On fourth-and-goal, he made an unfootball-like springboard leap and used his 6-foot-6 length to stretch the ball into the end zone’s airspace, though he had no apparent intent to actually get into the end zone.
Success. Lawrence picked up six points. The Jags went on to win.
Week 9 also brought us a trip of no-touch touchdowns that involved the pylons but never the end zone. Silly us: We thought you had to reach the end zone in order to score a touchdown.
See it all in our Week 9 recap.
Video and game image: Fox Sports
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.