DEN@NE: One-armed bandit

Here New England QB Cam Newton is stuffed at the line of scrimmage. To his credit, he recognizes he can get six points if he can just briefly extend the ball into the end zone’s airspace and avoid getting the ball smacked out of his hand.

He succeeds, and the official’s original call, that Newton was short of the end zone, is overruled. Yet to us, the fact is Newton WAS stopped short of the end zone and what Newton has achieved is merely a touchdown by technicality.

We believe the game would be more interesting to watch if such scoring shortcuts were eliminated. (Something was needed to make this game more interesting. This was the only TD of an 18-12 Broncos win, a game with eight field goals.)

In a contact sport, we believe ball carriers should be required to make contact with the designated scoring area. It’s our standard plea: Let’s put the touch back in touchdown. Hocus Bogus rating: 5

GB@TB: The inside game continues

Green Bay RB Aaron Jones never makes contact with the end zone with his surge into the line on third-and-goal. Officials, at first relying on logic, rule him down inside the 1. Yet replays show, as with Cam Newton’s play above, Jones managed to momentarily elbow the ball into the end zone’s airspace and qualify for a break-the-plane touchdown.

We think this is an unsatisfactory result, and some good defensive effort went to waste. Rating: 4.5

CLE@PIT: Stepover 1

If you like break-the-plane touchdowns, you’ll love this end zone stepover by Pittsburgh WR Chase Claypool. 

Recognizing two pursuing Cleveland defenders have cut off direct access to the end zone, he runs wide left, plants his left foot inside the 1, cuts the corner of the end zone, waves the ball over the goal line, and steps out of bounds with his right foot, never contacting the end zone.

Essentially, like so many others, Claypool has used the break-the-plane rule to create an extra-wide end zone. Clever. Not very satisfying to watch, but clever. Rating: 4

AZ@DET: Stepover 2

Same deal as the Chase Claypool end zone-stretcher shown above. Here Arizona’s Christian Kirk runs wide right, needs to avoid a tackler, and uses the break-the-plane rule to his advantage by cutting the end zone’s corner and landing out of bounds after he zooms over the goal line.

Why not make him actually touch the end zone in order to earn six points?  Airspace touchdowns make avoiding defenders a little too easy. Rating: 4