Tag: touchback

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce apologizes for his block on WR Mecole Hardman’s fumble

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce apologizes for his block on the play where WR Mecole Hardman fumbled out of the end zone

In the latest episode of “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce,” the Kelce brothers recapped the Chiefs’ divisional-round victory over the Buffalo Bills. Travis Kelce made it a point to apologize to teammate Mecole Hardman for his block on the play where Hardman fumbled at the goal line, leading to a touchback.

“I’m not gonna lie, man. I owe Mecole a [expletive] new car or something. I owe so much to him. My block was the one that knocked the ball out. And I’ve been [expletive] sick. I told him I apologized to him every time I [expletive] saw him and would apologize again. My bad, Mecole, man,” said Kelce. “Yeah, my guy was just trying to be great and get the ball in the end zone, and I’m thinking it’s a type (of) speed. We’re outside of the guy, (he) goes inside. … And he just finished the play better than I did and got a hand on the ball. And man, I owe my guy big time, man.”

The touchback didn’t come back to haunt the Chiefs as they held on for the 27-24 victory. Afterward, head coach Andy Reid immediately came to the defense of his receiver. Kelce’s admission puts better context on the play as the team continues to support and rally behind Hardman.

“I feel bad for him. And there’s nothing worse than giving up the ball, especially in a situation too.” said Kelce. “He wants another opportunity to get the ball and show what he can do with it. And sure enough, you’ll see him next Sunday. Come up in right on time, baby.”

Hardman is one of the fastest players in the league and when given an opportunity in space can be a game-changer for the Chiefs on Sunday in the passing game or on special teams.

Cowboys have been on both sides of ‘worst rule in football’ that may be up for change

From @ToddBrock24f7: Nothing sparks debate like a player fumbling the ball through the end zone. Dallas has been on both sides of it; now the rule may change.

Last season’s playoff run ended for the Cowboys with some controversy surrounding the circumstances that forced running back Tony Pollard out of the game with a devastating injury. There was talk after 49ers safety Jimmie Ward’s “hip-drop” tackle on Pollard- a technique that resulted in a fractured fibula and high ankle sprain for Pollard- that the NFL Competition Committee would at least consider banning the move, much like they did the horse-collar tackle in the mid-2000s.

That change to the NFL rulebook hasn’t come about (yet), but the next one that might is another that Cowboys fans are intimately familiar with.

During Sunday’s AFC divisional-round matchup between the Chiefs and Bills, Kansas City wide receiver Mecole Hardman fumbled the ball at the Buffalo 1-yard-line. The ball bounced into the end zone… and then out of bounds.

By rule, the ball was turned over to the Bills on their own 20. And every Chiefs fan in America immediately bemoaned the so-called “worst rule in football.”

Here’s how it reads in the rulebook:

“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.”

According to several outlets including the Washington Post, the league had already planned to discuss amending the rule this offseason. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported following Sunday’s instance that there’s a “good chance” a change will be made, with “momentum behind [the] NFL correcting” the rule that many consider to be “too harsh.”

Maybe.

If you’re the fumbling team, it does seem too punitive. Your offense has driven down the field and is in a position to score a touchdown simply by breaking the plane of the goal line. If the ball squirts free and rolls out before the pylon, no harm. It’s still your ball; line up and try again. But if that ball travels an extra few inches and rolls out behind the pylon, it’s an automatic turnover and a loss of 20 yards of field position.

One side loves to shout from the mountaintop: Then protect the ball, especially near the goal line.

The other side points out that a turnover/touchback is a disproportionately huge reward for a defense didn’t even recover the loose ball (and didn’t even necessarily cause the fumble in the first place).

That was the argument from Cowboys Nation in Week 17, when CeeDee Lamb had the ball punched out of his hands a yard away from the end zone. It shot forward and then out of bounds after the goal line. Detroit’s ball on the 20, and what looked like it was about to be a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter instead stayed a 7-3 affair going into halftime and eventually became the closest finish Dallas would play all season.

The Cowboys were the beneficiaries of the rule late in the 2017 season, when a timely shove from Dallas safety Jeff Heath caused Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to lose the handle just shy of the goal line. Instead of winning the game on a touchdown scramble in the final 30 seconds, Carr’s fumble through the end zone allowed Dallas to take a knee on the next play- safely on the 20- and walk off victorious.

Any new debate around the touchback rule will likely be spicy. Yes, the ball should be protected at the goal line. Yes, there are probably already too many rules that benefit the offense.

But while simply giving the offense another play from the spot of the fumble feels wrong, so does taking the ball away from them entirely when the defense didn’t actually make a recovery.

Some analysts and observers feel the compromise may be moving the ball back to the 20 but allowing the offense to retain possession with a loss of down, sort of a “reverse touchback.”

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Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports notes that, in looking over rule-change proposals submitted by the competition committee over the past decade, “not one team has offered to change” the current touchback rule and “a league source believes no team has ever put forth a proposal.”

According to a source, per Jones, the committee did discuss the rule after the 2017 season, with Carr’s costly Week 15 miscue still fresh, but they “did not believe a rule change was necessary, believing that it is an exciting play that rewards the defense for an offensive error.”

The latest implementation of the touchback rule, on Sunday in Buffalo, did not ultimately change the outcome of the game, with the Chiefs going on to win despite Hardman’s fourth-quarter fumble through the end zone. But the fact that it happened at all- in a monster playoff showdown that drew over 50 million viewers- could finally force the NFL to address one of the most controversial and quirkiest stipulations in its entire rulebook.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid addressed Mecole Hardman’s goal line fumble vs. Bills

Kansas City #Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke about wide receiver Mecole Hardman’s goal line fumble vs. the Buffalo #Bills.

The road to the AFC Championship game doesn’t lead through Arrowhead Stadium for the first time in six seasons. Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory sends them to take on the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens for the right to return to the Super Bowl and defend their title.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has led his team back to this point regardless of the miscues in the win over the Buffalo Bills. The turnover at the goal line late in the game from wide receiver Mecole Hardman stood out as it was a pivotal part of the contest. Reid shared his thoughts on the ill-timed fumble and touchback during his post-game press conference.

“Well, listen, he’s had so many big plays for us over time. And on that play, you can’t reach out,” said Reid. “He was trying, so you give him [credit for] the effort, but we know that you can’t do that down there because of that reason, and so you got to protect that football, and he’ll get better for that.”

Hardman’s inability to secure the football on Sunday didn’t come back to haunt the Chiefs, as the defense was able to stall a promising Bills drive to get the ball back. Since returning from injured reserve, Hardman showed flashes of greatness during the regular season finale and is always a threat with the ball because of his speed.

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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Saints punter Thomas Morstead is playing his best football in Year 11

The New Orleans Saints are getting career-best production out of 33-year-old punter Thomas Morstead, who is in his 11th season in the NFL.

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It’s often thought that younger is better in the NFL, with players putting up their best performances before the ravages of injuries and time hit and their peak athleticism begins to fade. But New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead is running against that trend. In fact, he’s having a career-best year in his eleventh NFL season, and at age 33.

To illustrate that point, Morstead saw a punt land in the opposing end zone for a touchback for the first time this season in Sunday’s game with the Carolina Panthers. It broke a streak of 41 punts without a touchback, which highlights just how accurate he’s been when the Saints are forced to give the ball away. Saints coach Sean Payton hates doing that, but when backed into a corner he can trust Morstead to put the other team in awful starting position.

His career average of 46.8 yards per punt ranks second-best among active players (trailing the Los Angeles Rams’ Johnny Hekker at 47.1) and third-best in NFL history (behind retired great Shane Lechler, at 47.6).

While his per-season average has dropped (see the chart below) to just 45.6, his accuracy has gone up, with 54.8% of his punts being downed inside the 20-yard line. That’s insanely good, even for his standards — Morstead’s previous career-high rate of punts landing inside the 20 was 43.3% in 2017. Expand that scope to the rest of the NFL and it’s the highest rate in the league, outpacing Baltimore Ravens living legend Sam Koch (who has put 12 of his 22 punts, 54.5%, inside the 20).

In other words, for the first time in his 11-year NFL career, Morstead’s rate of landing punts inside the opposing 20-yard line is higher than his average yards per punt.

The chart embedded below compares those two numbers year-by-year, with the gray line denoting Morstead’s average yards punt and the gold line highlighting the rate at which he put his punts inside the 20. It’s remarkable:

But let’s circle back to the present. Morstead has punted 42 times in New Orleans’ first 11 games, showing rare synergy with his coverage unit. Here’s what happened on each of those 42 punts:

  • 16 fair catches called by opposing team return unit
  • 16 returned by opponents, gaining 122 yards (7.6 yards per return)
  • 5 downed by the Saints punt coverage unit
  • 4 punts ruled out of bounds
  • 1 punt ruled a touchback

That’s impressive any way you look at it. It also speaks to the quiet improvements the Saints have made on special teams after overhauling the staff and personnel this offseason; they hired a new coordinator in longtime Miami Dolphins coach Darren Rizzi, who brought in two new assistants with him in former Penn State coordinator Phil Galiano and returns coverage specialist Michael Wilhoite. The Saints also invested in core special teamers like Craig Robertson (who signed a two-year contract extension) while bringing in free agents such as Stephone Anthony and Johnson Bademosi during the season. Rookie returns specialist Deonte Harris has been outstanding when the Saints special teams have gotten to go on the offensive. Saints kicker Wil Lutz has won two games with last-second field goals after inking his own five-year contract extension.

Hopefully Morstead won’t have to punt many more times this season, but it’s reassuring to know that the ball is in good hands when his number is called. He’s already earned multiple Special Teams Player of the Week and Month awards this season, and he just might pocket a few more.

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