During Thursday Night Football’s contest between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings, one particular play had everyone on social media talking.
With the Vikings looking to score, quarterback Kirk Cousins threw the ball to Justin Jefferson, who curled around and tried to get in the endzone for 7. As he extends his arms to try and break the plane of the goal line, Jefferson looses the ball, fumbling it out of the endzone, resulting in a tocuchback.
The play was reviewed, where it was determined that Jefferson fumbled the ball over the pylon, thus the touchback rule came into effect.
Immediately, many notable names across the NFL cried out against it.
“Worst rule in football, easily,” NFL reporter Dov Kleiman wrote on Twitter.
ProFootballTalk said much the same, adding “Wake up NFL.”
Ari Meirov said it would “always be the dumbest rule in football.”
Countless amounts of comments littered Twitter denouncing the rule, one of the most unpopular rules in the league.
A fumble out of the endzone rarely actually happens, but it’s usually a big deal when it does. For the Vikings in this contest, it not only resulted in Minnesota not being able to take the lead, but it erased an opportunity for any points at all, including a field goal which would have tied the game at 10.
Instead, Philly got the ball on their own 25 yard line and started their next drive. It was one of four Minnesota turnovers in the game.
That missing touchdown on the board (should the Vikings have made it across) actually had a massive role; Minnesota lost the game by a final score of 34-28.
Had that touchdown been on the board, the Vikings could have potentially won the game.
Many of the rule’s critics say that it’s inconsistent with fumbling out of bounds, in which the offense retains possession after a fumble trickles out of play.
If the offense keeps the ball then, why doesn’t it for endzone fumbles?
The rule seems almost universally hated by fans, but not everyone has the same approach as to how to change things.
Some fans prefer to have the ball be placed at the spot of the fumble, which in almost all cases would put the ball right near the goal line in the event a fumble out of the endzone happens.
Others, meanwhile, believe that the ball should come out to the 20 or 25 yard line, and play resumes from there. The fumbling team keeps the ball in both these scenarios.
The latter is the one I believe is the best option.
It still enforces the yardage point of the touchback rule, but the offense retains possession. Just like for a fumble out of bounds, the offense retains the ball, but the impact of fumbling out of the endzone still exists.
Either way, Jefferson’s fumble is the latest incident involving this rule that has drawn the ire of fans.
Fifth Avenue Sports 
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