NYG@NO: A total mystery

Even the most devout believer in the break-the-plane rule would have to wonder at least a little about the veracity of this call. We definitely don’t consider it to be a touchdown, and we even question if it was a catch.

To us, it seems pretty clear that New Orleans safety Marcus Williams (43) pries the ball out of the hands of New York’s John Ross before Ross’s backside hits the turf. And when Ross does land, he’s just short of the goal line.

Yet we see a touchdown signaled before Ross scrambles to collect the loose ball deep in the end zone. How on earth can this be ruled a touchdown? It’s a baffler. Hocus Bogus rating: 5

PIT@GB: Up, over, but definitely not in

“Is he up and over?” announcer Jim Nantz asks as Pittsburgh RB Najee Harris takes a flying leap at the goal line. “Yes he is,” Nantz replies.

OK, so Harris is momentarily over the goal line. That’s an airspace touchdown. But is he IN the end zone? Did he contact it? No, which is why we think an ATD is a feeble excuse for a genuine, hard-earned, no-doubt touchdown where the ball carrier actually contacts the designated scoring area. To us, this is just so much visual drivel. The Packers’ D pushes him back after his brief flirtation with the air pocket above the goal line. Is that really worth six points?

Based on the existing break-the-plane rationale, it is. But to a football fan who invests time and money into the game in search of athletic prowess and pro-level execution, a play such as this is an absolute yawner. 

“Right there,” Nantz says during the replay as the ball supposedly nips a fragment of the Great Invisible Plane. He needs to point this out because, to most fans, there is nothing obvious about what makes this effort worthy of six points. Not our idea of exciting football. Rating: 4.5

WAS@ATL: Airborne Express 

As Fox rules interpreter Dean Blandino explains during the review delay that follows this play, a ball must pass over or inside a pylon in order to credit a ball carrier with a touchdown. Someone (and no one knows who) decided McKissic transported the ball above the pylon, meaning his Superman-ish leap was good for six points.

But is it really clear that he did? Officials initially ruled McKissic was short, (the right call, in our view) then they changed their minds. We suspect officials, whom we hold in high regard, elect to call a close play a touchdown and then let TV replay prove them wrong. It seems to us they are usually disinclined to deny anyone of six points if they are even remotely close to a touchdown. 

Happy days for Washington fans: With 33 seconds left in the game, this play provided the winning points in a 34-30 victory for the future Commanders. Rating: 4.5

TB@NE: Do the pylon stomp

Tampa Bay’s Ronald Jones steps on the pylon, an object defined in the rulebook as being outside the field of play, and he is awarded six points. We think that is an illogical call, as we point out repeatedly on this site. And even we are surprised by how often this happens. 

We want touchdowns that actually reach and contact the end zone, not peripheral, end zone-adjacent objects. Rating: 4

IND@MIA: Out of step

The Colts’ Jonathan Taylor takes aim for the corner of the end zone but never gets there. Chased wide by a pair of Miami defenders, Taylor is forced to steer left. When he reaches the corner of the end zone, he plants his right foot in front of the goal line, but his left foot lands out of bounds. Only a true believer in the break-the-plane rule would consider this a touchdown. Rating: 4

DET@CHI: Really questionable

The Detroit defense stops Chicago’s Damien Williams just in front of the goal line, but someone, somewhere decided he somehow broke the plane and handed him a gift six points.

The sideline TV view is not straight down the goal line, so it’s hard to be certain if Williams nipped the goal line’s airspace or not. But the overall impression created by this play is that the Lions stopped him short. It should be, in our view, second-and-goal from inside the 1. Rating: 3.5