Tag: Dallas Cowboys vs Oakland Raiders

Browns’ end-zone fumble recalls Cowboys-Raiders 2017 must-see moment

When Rashard Higgins lost the ball through the end zone during Sunday’s postseason game, Dallas Cowboys fans knew exactly what would happen.

Cleveland’s Rashard Higgins was the central character in one of the most dramatic and talked-about plays of the divisional-round weekend. The Browns wide receiver was seemingly on his way to a late-second-quarter touchdown against Kansas City after hauling in a Baker Mayfield pass. Racing Chiefs defender Daniel Sorensen to the goal line, Higgins laid out, reaching the ball toward the corner pylon. The hit by Sorensen jarred the ball free. (Ignore Sorensen’s leading-with-the-helmet hit, because the refs did, too.) The loose ball skittered into the end zone, rolled around for an agonizing moment, and then tumbled out of bounds.

Much of the football-watching world held its breath waiting to see what the result of the play would be. But Cowboys fans already knew. They’d seen it before.

In Week 15 of the 2017 season, the Cowboys were visiting Oakland, hoping to keep their postseason chances alive by beating the Raiders. Dallas had moved into a 20-17 lead on a Dan Bailey field goal. (The infamous “index card measurement” from referee Gene Steratore gave the Cowboys a first down that had extended the go-ahead drive.)

Quarterback Derek Carr led the Raiders down the field in the waning minutes and appeared poised to re-take the lead with under a minute to play. On a third down call, Carr slipped away from DeMarcus Lawrence and Taco Charlton, who were quickly collapsing the pocket. Carr tucked the ball and took off for the corner of the end zone, some fifteen yards away.

Safety Jeff Heath launched himself at about the three. Carr extended the ball for the pylon. Fumble forward. Into the end zone. Then out of bounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR8HhRLNX-E

Section 7 of the NFL rulebook covers fumbles. Article 3, Item 4 specifically addresses a fumble out of bounds in the end zone:

  1. If a ball is fumbled in the field of play, and goes forward into the opponent’s end zone and over the end line or sideline, a touchback is awarded to the defensive team

The Cowboys were awarded possession at the Raiders’ 20. They ran out the clock and won the game.

When the same thing happened to Cleveland on Sunday, the ensuing announcement from officials of a Kansas City touchback reignited a brief firestorm on Twitter over “the worst rule in football.”

The Browns, obviously, still had another half of football in which to recover, though the missed touchdown opportunity certainly changed the momentum and the team’s playcalling after the halftime break. The thought of a closer game where Kansas City is forced to play without Patrick Mahomes may indeed haunt the dreams of Browns fans for some time.

It won’t be the first heartbreaking fumble to snuff Cleveland’s postseason life. On the exact same date in 1988, running back Earnest Byner coughed it up at the 1, down by just seven points to Denver with 72 seconds to go and a trip to Super Bowl XXII hanging in the balance.

The rest of the world recalls that AFC Championship contest for “The Drive” engineered by Broncos quarterback John Elway. Browns fans instead look back in anger at “The Fumble.”

Even though Sunday’s call helped decide a playoff game, don’t expect there to be a rule change anytime soon, because, as many have argued, there isn’t a clear-cut alternative that seems fair to all parties involved. As Sports Illustrated‘s Dan Gartland points out, “Extending the ball near the goal line is a high-reward play, so why shouldn’t the risk also be high?”

Even if casual fans aren’t well-versed on the rule, most NFL coaches are. And they make sure their players know the dangers of reaching a live ball toward the goal line.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is one of them.

“I will never ever doubt Rashard Higgins’ effort or our guys’ effort,” Stefanski told reporters after the game, as per ProFootballTalk. “Our rule there is not to reach the ball out when it is first and goal, and he knows that. Again, [I] appreciate his effort. He battled like he always does, but we have to fight that urge because it is such a big loss if it does end up being a touchback.”

For now, look for the apparent absurdity of the fumble-through-the-end-zone rule to be debated, at least by fans, and at least for a little while. Until, of course, it happens again.

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