MIN@CHI: All pylon, no end zone

Only one airspace touchdown was spotted during Week 12, but it was an ugly one. Minnesota’s Jalen Nailor is pushed out of bounds by Bears’ defensive back Jaylon Johnson (1) a half-yard short of the goal line. A half-yard at least.

This fact, however, is a trivial issue. Benefitting from the extraordinary leeway inherent in the break-the-plane rule, Nailor is granted a touchdown for his effort. Why? Because it is assumed he waved a few grains of the football in the ether above the goal line before he stepped on the sideline.

Nailor never touched the end zone. Never got closer than a half-yard to it, even when he crashed out of bounds. Yet because clipped the pylon, an object that stands fully in out-of-bounds territory, he is awarded six points. What an insult to the defense. What a goofy rule. Hocus Bogus Rating: 5

College: Speaking of ugly . . .

The break-the-plane rule is every ball carrier’s get-out-of-jail-free card.

Here Oklahoma’s Xavier Robinson, being chased by three Alabama defenders, has zero chance of getting into the end zone. So, recognizing he can exploit a permissive rule, Robinson makes no attempt to get into the end zone. He simply reaches the ball into a small corner of the end zone’s airspace before losing his grip on the ball and, as if by magic, six points appear on the scoreboard.

Once again, it’s another insult to the defense, which is forced to try and defend what in essence becomes an extra-wide end zone. And it’s an insult to fans who would like to see the game played on equal footing, where a touchdown should be awarded only when a ball carrier hits the end zone, not when he leaves a tiny vapor trail above a pylon. Ugly, ugly, ugly.