Touchback at the pylon: A bad rule

[Dave Gray]

1st and goal from the 4, Miller runs to the corner, dives for the pylon and is knocked out of bounds as the ball goes flying.

He is called out at the one.  Replay clearly shows the ball making contact with the pylon.

Philbin challenges immediately.

The replay shows the ball getting dislodged right at (or before) the pylon, so the call is reversed and it is called a TOUCHBACK, awarding the ball to the Panthers, because the pylon represents being out of the endzone.

I don't like this rule.  It reminds me of the old safety rule where they would award 2 points to a team receiving a kick if they kneeled the ball down after backpedaling in from the 1.
It's not the spirit of the rule to award a team that didn't make a play.
You're essentially built to fumble towards the sidelines.  Diving is a low risk play because if you get hit, the ball has nowhere to go but out of bounds.
So, you're penalizing the team that tried to make the athletic play on a technicality.  ...else, why even risk diving to the corner, if you're risking a turnover. 

[Tenshot13]

^^^Agreed 99.99%...I believe it was Williams, not Miller.

[Phishfan]

It was Williams and I really don't think the rule needs to be changed at all. What else are you going to rule on a fumble out of the endzone? The team keep possession? That would just be insane.

[Brian Fein]

if the ball is fumbled before breaking the plane, and then hits the pylon, it is a touchback.  Don't fumble.

It he ball is possessed through the touching of the pylon, it should be a touchdown.

[MikeO]

I found it amusing thinking back to last year. Sammy Watkins did the same thing vs Miami last year Week 2 and the refs reviewed it and upheld the TD. The other night the refs got the call right when Miami fumbled...lol

[Phishfan]

It was also a bad call that went against Miami several years ago. It was a Saints game if I remember correctly but I don't remember the back.

[MikeO]

It was also a bad call that went against Miami several years ago. It was a Saints game if I remember correctly but I don't remember the back.

Might have been Reggie Bush but am not sure

[ArtieChokePhin]

Might have been Reggie Bush but am not sure

Darren Sharper pick six where the ball was clearly coming out before he crossed the goal line.   

That was one of several egregious calls against Miami in that game. 

The far more disturbing part of this is that the Dolphins as a whole played well enough to win and Philbin's gaffe coat them the game

[MikeO]

Darren Sharper pick six where the ball was clearly coming out before he crossed the goal line.   

That was one of several egregious calls against Miami in that game. 

The far more disturbing part of this is that the Dolphins as a whole played well enough to win and Philbin's gaffe coat them the game

Philbin wasn't the coach. Sparano was

[Brian Fein]

Philbin wasn't the coach. Sparano was

Beat me to it, this was long before Philbin.

[dolphins4life]

Darren Sharper pick six where the ball was clearly coming out before he crossed the goal line.   

That was one of several egregious calls against Miami in that game. 

The far more disturbing part of this is that the Dolphins as a whole played well enough to win and Philbin's gaffe coat them the game

The key call wasn't that one it was the one in the first half where the ruled a touchdown when the clock should have kept running and Miami should have gone into the half with a three touchdown lead. 

[ArtieChokePhin]

Philbin wasn't the coach. Sparano was

Beat me to it, this was long before Philbin.

Uhhhhhhhhhh.  Last I checked, Philbin was the head coach in Saturday's game and it was his choice to throw the red flag

[Pappy13]

I'm not 100% sure they got the call right. If the ball broke the plane before he lost control it's a TD, but he lost control of the ball literally almost the exact same moment the ball hit the pylon so how do you know the ball had NOT crossed the plane yet? In my opinion they should have disallowed the TD, but placed the ball at the 1 since there was no definitive view of whether or not the ball had crossed the plane of the goal before the fumble and therefore the call on the field should stand. In my opinion the reason they have problems with the instant replay rule is because they don't use it correctly. The replay is ONLY suppose to overrule plays that are CLEARLY wrong. If it's not definitive then the call on the field is supposed to stand, but it's almost NEVER done that way. If the play is not definitive, then the referee's make their best GUESS about what happened and call it that way rather than letting the play called on the field stand. The only time they let it stand is if they think it was the right call, not if they don't know whether or not it was the right call the way that instant replay is suppose to work.

[Phishfan]

I'm not 100% sure they got the call right.

I have not heard anyone complain about the ball not being out and it looked very clear to me. I had it overturned in my head (as a Dolphins fan) as soon as they were giving me a replay.

[Dave Gray]

It was Williams and I really don't think the rule needs to be changed at all. What else are you going to rule on a fumble out of the endzone? The team keep possession? That would just be insane.

I think that a fumble at the goal-line, going out of bounds should be like a fumble at the sideline.  The team that fumbled retains possession where the ball was dropped.

The exception, IMO should be if the ball touches the ground in the endzone, in which case it's a touchback.