BAL@PIT: A game of airspace inches

If break-the-plane touchdowns thrill you, you’ll swoon with delight over this leaping airspace gouge by Pittsburgh’s Najee Harris. He pushes the ball through the plane by what, almost three-quarters of an inch? Goosebumps! Then he and the ball come crashing down near the 1 due to some stout defense by Baltimore. Not that it matters. A minimal poke of the plane is all the existing rule requires.

This is one lame touchdown due to one really lame rule. Hocus Bogus rating: 5

CAR@SEA: With a mere wave of his arm

Carolina’s Chubba Hubbard gets stood up at the line by Seattle LB Jordyn Brooks (56) and DT Bryan Mone (90), but as he gets shoved backward he manages to reach back and somehow briefly wave the ball over the goal line’s airspace. These days that’s good enough for six points, but not good if you were hoping to see a player battle his way into the end zone and  actually earn the points.  

This is your idea of an exciting play? Then we see things differently. Rating: 5

MIN@DET: That’s yet another stretch

Will even the staunchest of pylon rule defenders agree that this is a touchdown? Here Detroit’s Justin Jackson lands with his elbow, forearm and ball-carrying hand out of bounds, but his right shoulder dislodges the pylon as he skids past. 

We argue Jackson’s first point of contact is out of bounds, and the pylon (which, regardless of what the commentator says, is positioned 99% out of bounds) gets bumped as a secondary point of contact, though those hits occur almost instantaneously. While the effort is first-rate (again, it will look great on a highlight reel) but we just don’t see how this can be ruled a touchdown. Rating: 5

LV@LAR: Barrier to entry

Watch Raiders DT Neil Farrell, Jr. (92) fight off the block of RG Coleman Shelton (65) and stone Cam Akers just in front of the goal line. Farrell is so pleased with his play (and rightly so) that he gives the Rams the Mutombo not-this-time finger wag. Only the officials, for reasons only they know, signal a touchdown.

Is it clear that he even broke the plane? Not really. To us, it’s a Nix Six. Rating: 4.5

CLE@CIN: Flying the friendly pylon skies

Cleveland TE David Njoku captures a fragment of end zone airspace before he rolls over and lands out of bounds on his back. By existing rule, that’s a score, Pylon stretches are good highlight fodder; Njoku’s effort conveys drama and athleticism. We’d be more impressed if he finished the play inside the end zone, where indisputable touchdowns are scored. Rating: 4

TB@SF: A tale of toes and defensive woes

When ruling an end zone score, we believe a player’s point of first contact, not the airspace they are presumed to occupy, should determine how a play is ruled. Here San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel needs to go extra-wide to avoid a touchdown-saving hit by Buccaneers’ safety Logan Ryan (26), so he takes advantage of the touch-a-pylon-anywhere rule and you’re handed six points.

Samuels brushes the pylon with his airborne right leg, and his first point of contact, with the toes of his right foot, is out of bounds. Another Nix Six to us. Plus the ball is in his right arm, and if the break-the-plane rule was applied to the sideline, the ball appears to be out of bounds just before the goal line. Rating: 4

JAX@TEN: Yippee Skippee

This sort of touchdown could only happen with a break-the-plane rationale in place. Jacksonville’s Evan Engram, pleased with himself and with his clear path to the corner of the end zone, puts a little skip into his final steps and leaps over the goal line and out of bounds, never contacting the end zone.

If our rule was in play, Engram would most likely get at least one foot on paydirt before getting jaunty. Though you never know. While this is an easy score, by our rule, Engram would be ruled out of bounds and the ball placed at the 1, first-and-goal. If that happened, Engram would have some ‘splainin’ to do. Rating: 1