Week 16: A clean slate

In the nearly five seasons this site has tracked airspace touchdowns in the NFL, Week 16 was just the third week where no ATDs were spotted. But in 84 of the 87 other regular-season weeks we have monitored, at least one ATD has occurred, and usually more than one. That’s how prevalent no-touch touchdowns have become in the professional game.

Several scores were close, such as Tennessee’s Tyjae Spears making a good-enough arm extension across the goal line before he gives himself a final push to actually finish in the end zone. But in 16 games where the most TDs (90) were recorded in a single week so far in 2024, every ball carrier made contact with the end zone. That’s a favorable trend.

College: Flipping out

The college game, meanwhile, served up some airspace touchdowns, such as this head-over-plyon leap by South Florida’s Ta’Ron Keith at the end of a 93-yard kickoff run. He completely misses the end zone, but the break-the-plane rule lets referees ignore their gut instincts and instead signal touchdown.

That’s the alleged beauty of the break-the-plane rule: close enough is good enough. “Give it to him,” analyst Jay Walker said when Keith crashed out of bounds. Well, OK. The next time a runner is tackled just shy of the goal line, c’mon, think about all the effort the poor guy has put out. Never mind the effort made by the defense to stop him short. He’s so close; just give it to him.