KC@CIN: TDs don’t come much uglier

We agree with the call agreed to by the refs. Per the existing break-the-plane rule, this looney leap by Patrick Mahomes is a touchdown.

But when judged by our proposed rule, no way is it a score. Mahomes fumbled the ball in midair and a) never touched the end zone b) with control of the ball — our two-pronged Sustainable Sanity solution to the blight of these absurd touchdowns. Mahomes broke the plane by maybe one-eighth of the football’s diameter, and only for a split second before fumbling. For this you get points?

Seeing plays such as this be rewarded with the biggest payout the game offers — a heaping helping of six points — leaves us slack-jawed in a numbed state of incredulity. C’mon, O faithful stewards of the game; you’ve got to rethink this rule. Ruling a midair fumble to be a touchdown is just nonsense. Rating: 5

MIA@SF: A hop, skip and a Juszczyk

The legend of Brock Purdy began with this play, a nothing-but-air touchdown reception by Kyle Juszczyk — Purdy’s first NFL touchdown pass after coming off the bench to replace Jimmy Garoppolo after Garoppolo suffered a season-ending foot injury in the first quarter. (Purdy finished 25 of 37 for 210 yards and 2 TDs.)

Purdy capped his first drive (nine plays, 54 yards) with a short toss to Juszczyk in the right flat. Recognizing he could not get into the end zone (due to the defense doing its job), Juszczyk elected to leap over the end zone and take advantage of the touchdowns-made-easy rule, otherwise known as the break-the-plane rule.

Why bother pounding the ball into the end zone when you can just launch yourself into a sliver of its airspace and get handed six points — even though you land a yard out of bounds after you pass the goal line? Seems like an unfair shortcut to us. Our rule would correct this inequity. Rating: 4.5

TEN@PHI: Cutting corners, the sequel

Chased by four defenders, Jalen Hurts runs wide right (really wide), skips across the corner of the end zone and, taking advantage of existing the break-the-plane rationale, collects six points. Another airspace touchdown.

Our proposed rule would require ball carriers to touch the end zone in order to earn a touchdown. Hurts’ first point of contact beyond the goal line, made with his left foot (see images below) is about a half-yard out of bounds.

This gives Hurts (and Juszczyk, as noted in the previous example) the benefit of an extra-wide end zone. That doesn’t seem right. Our rule would correct this surprisingly common peculiarity. Rating: 4

KC@CIN: Taking one for the new rule

At first glance people will wonder why this play is included in this, an inventory of airspace touchdowns. Even to us at first it looked like a legit touchdown — and when judged by the existing break-the-plane rule, it’s a score.

But, upon further review, Tee Higgins’ right elbow is down just shy of the goal line. Per our rule, if a ball carrier’s first point of contact occurs in front of the end zone, even if the ball is breaking the goal line’s plane, it’s not a touchdown. 

If our rule was enacted, we recognize it would take fans some time to adjust to the fact that the old way of viewing touchdowns is no longer valid. Rating: 1

PIT@ATL: Elbow drop, part deux

As with Tee Higgins’ elbow hit in the example above, Atlanta TE MyCole Pruitt would not, if judged by our proposed rule, be awarded a touchdown for this full-bore effort.

His first point of contact, a key determinant in our ruling, is his right elbow, and the ball, while in the goal line’s airspace, is just that — up in the air.  With apologies to people fully accustomed to break-the-plane touchdowns, we rule this a Nix Six. Rating: 1

NYJ@MIN: Some calls are hard to make

This play reminds us that, when writing a rule and trying to prepare for every possible outcome, you can’t predict everything. Rulemaking is hard.

Here the Jets’  Mike White gets stood up just before the goal line. Officials originally ruled him short, and we agree, because it’s not apparent he has touched the end zone (the standard in our proposed rule) or that he has even broken the plane (the lower standard of the existing rule). Yet the overhead replay view (shown in the second video clip) persuades the officials to change their call to touchdown.

Video:  CBS Sports

Did White touch the end zone? It’s not conclusive due to the jumble of bodies in the replay, so our rule would defer to the original call on the field: no touchdown. Did he break the plane? Maybe, but it’s not glaringly obvious. Thus our rule would better serve the game in this case — no clear, visible contact made with the end zone results in no TD.

Tough call. We sympathize with the refs. Rating: 1