IND@BAL: The ol’ end zone sidestep

It has become an unwelcome but routine occurrence in football:

When ball carriers find it too inconvenient to step into the end zone due to the pursuit of defenders, they simply run to the side of it, momentarily poke the ball into a wee pocket of its airspace, then race by along the sideline (i.e., out-of-bounds territory) while never contacting the designated scoring area.

The existing break-the-plane rule thus allows them to take advantage of an extra-wide end zone. End zones are already 53.3 yards (160 feet) wide and 10 yards deep. Do we really need to grant ball carriers additional space where their feet can land while they wave at a pylon?

Nevertheless, they are awarded six points for such a maneuver. It’s akin to tossing a dart, missing the board, and impaling the back wall. But, because the dart passed through the board’s airspace on its wayward journey, you get credit for a bullseye. Magic!

The Colts’ Zack Moss makes a nice catch, and around here we’re always happy to see Gardner Minshew get credit for a touchdown pass. But doesn’t the act of merely brushing the end zone’s airspace with the ball seem inadequate for a huge payout of six points? It does to us. Hocus Bogus Rating: 4

TEN@CLE: Pounding the pylon

The NFL Rulebook tells us — in Rule 3 (Definitions), Section 12 (The Field), Article 3 (End Zone) — the following:

The End Zone is the rectangle formed by the Goal Line, the End Line, and the Sidelines. The Goal Line and the pylons are in the End Zone.

This baffles us, since another entry in the same Rulebook (Field Markings section, point 5) tells us this:

The four intersections of goal lines and sidelines must be marked at inside corners of the end zone and the goal line by pylons. Pylons must be placed at inside edges of white lines and should not touch the surface of the actual playing field itself.

The Field Markings section (point 1) explains “The playing field will be rimmed by a solid white border six feet wide along the end lines and sidelines.” That includes the end zones. Pylons, therefore, are 100 percent positioned in out-of-bounds territory. To us, it makes no sense that they are considered part of the end zone, which is 100 percent inbounds. Yet that first interpretation is why Cleveland’s Jerome Ford was credited for a touchdown even though he never made contact with the end zone.

For decades fans have watched this phenomenon take place week after week and have come to accept it without question. We think it’s time to at long last raise the question: Why is this acceptable? Rating: 4

LAC@MIN: Knee down? Touchdown

The left knee of Minnesota tight end Josh Oliver hits the ground just in front of the goal line as he reaches the ball toward the end zone. Because his knee hits the ground before the ball hits the end zone, by our rule it would be the Vikings’ ball third-and-goal inside the 1, not a touchdown.

Is that being too picky? Not if we’re staying true to the intent of the rule we wish would be established:: to earn a touchdown, a ball carrier must make contact with the end zone while the ball has reached the goal line or beyond.

This is a fine effort by Oliver. Just one that is not quite good enough, in our view, for six points. Rating: 3.5

LAC@MIN: Just a bit outside

Minnesota wide receiver K.J. Osborn goes full-bore in his attempt to reach the end zone, launching himself from the 4-yard line and nearly making a clean landing in the end zone. It’s such a terrific effort that we feel a little bad pointing out that his left leg barely grazed the sideline when he came down to earth from his Superman leap.

The existing break-the-plane rule bailed Osborn out, awarding him six points. By our rule, because he contacted the sideline before he contacted the end zone, we would give the Vikings the ball inside the 1 — still a great outcome on a fourth-and-6 play. Rating: 2

Footnote: Mind your goal line

Should our rule ever become enacted, players would need to be judicious with celebratory moves such as Josh Allen’s in-flight finger roll. In our world, minus the break-the-plane rule, this would actually be ruled a fumble.

We’re not adding this minor indiscretion to this week’s totals (although we have done so a few times in past years). If our rule was in place, we’re guessing Allen would be wise enough to first step into the end zone, then make his midair layup maneuver.  

College: Pylons are baffling there, too

We don’t track airspace touchdowns in college football due to the sheer volume of games. But thanks to a tip from a faithful reader, we tracked down a pylon dive by USC’s Caleb Williams at Arizona State on Sept. 23 that, when it was ruled a touchdown, made our heads spin.

It’s hard to determine what happened first, Williams’ left foot skidding out of bounds at the 1 or his empty left arm sweeping the pylon. The ball, meanwhile, was in his right hand, and it may or may not have passed over the airspace above the pylon. It’s just not clear.

What IS clear is Williams never touched the end zone. If our rule had been in place (no TD without contacting the end zone), all this hand-wringing over breaking the Great Invisible Plane and using “the goal line extended,” as mentioned by rules interpreter Dean Blandino (and what a peculiar concept that is), could have been avoided. If the ball carrier did not contact the end zone, then there is nothing to discuss. It’s fourth-and-goal on or inside the 1.

The Rules Interpretation section (part III) of the NCAA Football 2023 Rules Book (free download available) discusses at length many what-if scenarios involving pylons in Rule 8 (Scoring), Section 2 (Touchdown), Article 1 (How Scored).

Call us simpletons, but it seems to us rule-makers could save everyone a lot of time and uncertainty by just declaring 1) pylons are out-of-bounds and 2) making contact with or passing over one does not entitle a ball carrier to a score. Rating: 5