CHI@AZ: Side steppin’

What a gift to the Cardinals this call is. As our pylons article points out, the NFL Rulebook — under Rule 11 (Scoring), Section 2 (Touchdowns), Article 1 (Touchdown Plays) — states:

“A touchdown is scored when (b) a ball in possession of an airborne runner is on, above, or behind the plane of the goal line, and some part of the ball passed over or inside the pylon.”

So by momentarily waving the ball above the pylon — and all pylons are 100 percent out of bounds; look at the image — Arizona’s Trey McBride gets credit for six points, which to us seems absurd. He is a half-yard short of the end zone (football’s designated scoring area) when he sails out of bounds.

Chicago defensive back Kevin Byard III (31) does his job, commendably, by keeping McBride out of the end zone. Yet it doesn’t matter. This lame excuse for a touchdown gives the Cardinals their first points of the game. To anyone who dares to think logically, this is an insulting ruling. Hocus Bogus Rating: 5

JAX@PHI: Corner cuttin’

This play, where Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley zooms over the front corner of the end zone without touching it, is not nearly as galling as Trey McBride’s logic-defying pylon wave-over (above). But it shows how ball carriers have learned to have a cavalier attitude about actually touching the end zone. 

Here Barkley plants his left foot in front of the goal line, and his right foot lands a few inches into the sideline. In essence, the break-the-plane rule makes the end zone extra wide, since there is no consequence for stepping on the sideline at that point. Such leniency makes the defense’s job even tougher.

Silly us, we believe a ball carrier’s first point of contact beyond the goal line should be in bounds; in the designated scoring area; i.e., the end zone

Obviously, we and our logical thinking are in the minority here. Rating: 2.5

College: Two for the nonsensical road

Each week college football serves up way too many airspace touchdowns for us to chronicle. But here are two pylon-pounders from the first week of November that caught our attention. Enjoy the absurdity.