Doug Farrar 

Why can’t NFL players hold on to the ball before they score touchdowns?

A rash of embarrassing incidents at the goalline threatened to cost teams dear on Sunday as players failed to master the basics of the game
  
  

Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts was one of a number players with handling issues on Sunday
Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts was one of a number players with handling issues on Sunday. Photograph: Winslow Townson/Getty Images

With 3:16 left in the third quarter of the Bengals’ 37-27 win over the Titans, Tennessee running back Tony Pollard fumbled, and the ball was recovered by Cincinnati safety Jordan Battle. Battle had a clear lane to the end zone and a 61-yard touchdown, but he instead decided to celebrate his touchdown before it happened, dropping the ball before he crossed the goalline. The ball went out of the end zone, which meant that the touchdown was instead a touchback, and the Titans got the ball back at their own 20-yard line.

Not that the Titans were able to do anything with that additional opportunity, given their putrid passing game, but why do so many players – some of the best athletes on the planet – forget how to hold on to a ball when near the goalline?

As we moved from the early to the late slate of games on Sunday, Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor – whose job is to run while holding a ball – pulled a similar goof-up that cost his team a touchdown against the Denver Broncos. Taylor was on his way to a 41-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. At first, it was called a touchdown, but after review, it was ruled that Taylor dropped the ball before he crossed the plane. Another touchback, and the Broncos had the ball at their own 20-yard line.

Also in the late slate, Arizona Cardinals receiver Greg Dortch dropped the ball just before he hit the end zone against the New England Patriots, but offensive tackle Jonah Williams was there to recover the fumble for his own touchdown with 1:21 left in the first quarter. A just reward for the big man, but embarassing for Dortch.

This season alone, we have two other examples of premature celebration, or an inability to understand where one is on the field.

Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts – touted as a one of the most gifted prospects in years when he was drafted in 2021 – had a touchdown all but tabulated in Week 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he was not up on his ball security, and allowed Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr to knock it out of his hands. Pitts was bailed out by Shawn Hochuli’s officiating crew, who ruled that Pitts broke the plane for a 49-yard score, but replays told a different tale.

And rookie receiver Malachi Corley of the New York Jets had his first NFL touchdown in Week 9 against the Houston Texans until he decided to make a big deal about it before it happened.

Football can be a complicated game, but sometimes the keys to victory are simple. Holding on to the ball until you actually score seems rudimentary, but based on this season’s results, perhaps not.

Why do players keep doing this when they’re coached not to at both the professional and college levels? There appears to be a desire to make touchdowns look casual in the “ball-dropping” instances. As for the cases in which a defender pops the ball out before the end zone, that’s likely just an awareness flub.

In Corley’s case, the Jets’ coaches had actually showed their players tape of the Pitts play the week before as a preventive example.

“So it’s definitely on his radar,” Aaron Rodgers said of Corley. “Great play call, great execution. The only thing I’d just say to Malachi, and I said this to him on the sideline: ‘Why would you ever even drop the ball? That’s your first touchdown. You celebrate with that thing, you run to the sideline with that thing.’”

Or you don’t, and you suffer the consequences.

MVP of the week

Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens. Sunday marked the 100th NFL game for Jackson, and the two-time MVP made the most of the occasion. In Baltimore’s 35-14 demolition of the New York Giants, a win that took them to 9-5 on the season, Jackson was at his best. He completed 21 of 25 passes for 290 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 154.6. He also added 65 rushing yards on just six carries.

For those who mistakenly still think of Jackson as a primary running quarterback, consider this: Sunday’s win marked the sixth game in which Jackson has thrown at least five touchdown passes and no interceptions. Only Tom Brady and Drew Brees have more such games with eight each.

The Ravens had gone on a 1-2 slide before their Week 14 bye, and talk of Jackson repeating his 2023 MVP win had been muted of late as a result. Perhaps with a few more performances like this, the voices on his side will become louder. Not even a wardrobe malfunction could stop him.

Video of the week

The Washington Commanders beat the New Orleans Saints 20-19 to take their record to 9-5, ensuring the franchise’s first winning season since 2016. Jayden Daniels has been a massive reason for the turnaround, and Daniels’ 16-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin in the first quarter showed nearly every one of the rookie’s special traits.

Per Next Gen Stats, Daniels rolled around for 8.04 seconds before finding McLaurin in the end zone. That’s the second time this season Daniels has held the ball for more than eight seconds before throwing a touchdown pass. In the entire NFL, there have been five other instances in which quarterbacks held on to the ball that long before throwing for a score.

Stat(s) of the week

0 and 26. While we prefer to focus on games with playoff implications this time of year, we can’t in good conscience fail to cover whatever it was that the aforementioned Bengals and Titans put on the field in what was probably the worst game of the season. The two teams combined for 10 turnovers and 26 penalties, the first time in the Super Bowl era that had happened. The Bengals had 14 penalties for 113 yards, and the Titans had 12 for 110. Both teams fumbled twice and all four fumbles went to the other team. Joe Burrow threw two interceptions. The Titans’ Will Levis threw three picks before he was benched for Mason Rudolph, who stuck to the bit by throwing an interception of his own. The 37-27 final score proves that not every unwatchable game is a 6-3 final.

Elsewhere around the league

-- Sunday’s matchup between the 12-1 Detroit Lions and the 10-3 Buffalo Bills was the earliest in a season we’ve seen two teams with at least 10 wins face each other since the San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos 34-17 in Week 16 of the 1997 season. And it was abundantly clear coming in that Lions-Bills could be a Super Bowl LIX preview.

In last Sunday’s 44-42 loss to the Los Angeles Rams that was both a barnburner and a heartbreaker, the Bills became the first team in NFL history to score at least six touchdowns and have no takeaways … and lose. Josh Allen was the first player in NFL history to throw for three touchdowns and run for three touchdowns in the same game, and, yep … the Bills still lost. Allen became the rare player to amplify his own MVP candidacy in defeat.

There’s always a danger for the Bills in relying too much on Allen to get things done, and the Rams loss was the most recent example of that. In part because the Rams got out to leads of 17-7 and 31-14, Allen had to put the team on his shoulders, and he nearly pulled it off.

Against the Lions, the Bills had the more balanced offense we’ve seen far more often this season. They ran several different run concepts at Detroit’s injury-depleted defensive fronts, and the Lions had few answers.

And while Lions head coach Dan Campbell has been rightly praised for his intelligent aggression this season, one decision in this game hurt his team badly. With 12 minutes left, and the Bills already up 38-28, Campbell called for an onside kick, which Bills receiver Mack Hollins returned 38 yards to the Detroit five-yard line. One play later, Allen hit running back Ray Davis for a five-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach.

As for the Bills, while this was an impressive win, that similarly injury-depleted defense is a real problem. This is the first pro football team to both score and allow more than 40 points in consecutive games since the 1966 New York Giants.

–– For once, the Kansas City Chiefs were able to win a game that didn’t go down to the last few seconds.

Things were easier (to a point) for the Chiefs in a 21-7 win over the Cleveland Browns. Patrick Mahomes completed 19 of 38 passes for just 159 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 78.7. Hardly explosive, but good enough. The problem was Kansas City’s leaky pass protection, as it has been all season long. Mahomes wasn’t sacked once against the Browns, but he was hit and hurried over and over. With 8:01 left in the game, Mahomes was pressured by two Cleveland defensive tackles – Michael Hall and Dalvin Tomlinson – and was clearly uncomfortable with what the pressures did to his lower body.

Mahomes limped off the field and was replaced by Carson Wentz for the rest of the game. Head coach Andy Reid relayed an initial diagnosis of a high ankle sprain, and said that Mahomes is week-to-week. The team will have a more definitive picture when Mahomes gets detailed tests on Monday. Not that it’s ever a good time to lose Mahomes, but Kansas City have the Houston Texans at home next Saturday, and then travel to Pittsburgh for a Christmas Day game against the Steelers. At 13-1, the Chiefs are still in the AFC’s pole position for home field advantage through the playoffs, but they’d obviously prefer to keep their breathing room.

–– Coming into Sunday’s crucial game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Philadelphia Eagles had to work out issues with their passing game. Jalen Hurts’ recent performances had instilled a level of frustration that spilled out into public. After Philly’s 22-16 Week 15 win over the Carolina Panthers, receiver AJ Brown was asked what about the offense needed to improve. “Passing,” was his blunt answer.

That led to a predictable week of fuss among the contentious Philadelphia sports media, and Hurts was left to reverse the narrative against the tough Steelers defense. Hurts did his level best, completing 25 of 32 passes for 290 yards, two touchdowns, no picks, and a passer rating of 125.3, and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore seemed to have a passing game designed for the most part for Hurts’ specific attributes.

Hurts is not a full-field reader. He will leave throws on the table to wide-open receivers and overthrow others as a result when the play extends too long. Coming into this game, a full 20% of Hurts’ dropbacks had lasted four seconds or more, the highest rate in the NFL. That’s primarily a tribute to the Eagles’ outstanding offensive line. The downside is that all that time seems to put too many options in Hurts’ head, and option anxiety is the inevitable result.

But against the Steelers in a major 27-13 win, Hurts seemed to get the ball out more quickly with fewer progressions to read through. He is at his best when he’s able to key on his first and second reads, use play-action and run-pass options to glue the passing and rushing games together, and complement the whole thing with his own abilities as a runner. As Hurts also gained 45 yards and scored a touchdown on 15 carries, this was absolutely the kind of offense Hurts must have in order to thrive.

Running back Saquon Barkley and a great defense have kept the 12-2 Eagles afloat while Hurts worked out the kinks. If this is the offense we see through the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs, Philly will be as tough an out as the NFL has right now.

 

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