Inside The Vikings

NFL's Weird Touchback Rule Burns Justin Jefferson, Vikings on TNF

Jefferson nearly had a touchdown. Instead, the play resulted in a turnover.

Will Ragatz

In this story:

If Justin Jefferson's fumble had gone out of bounds at the one yard-line, the Vikings would've been set up with first and goal and a chance to take the lead back from the Eagles on Thursday night.

But because it crossed the goal line before going out of bounds, by rule, it was a touchback that gave the Eagles possession at their own 25. That's a massive turn of events caused by one of the NFL's strangest and least sensible rules.

Trailing 10-7 with less than a minute left in the first half of their Thursday Night Football matchup in Philadelphia, the Vikings had the ball in Eagles territory with a chance to at least tie the game at the break. On second down, Kirk Cousins dropped back and found his superstar wide receiver for a contested catch and a big play. Jefferson went up for a great grab at the 5, turned and made a push for the end zone. As he attempted to reach the ball across the goal line, it was knocked out and fell out of bounds for a touchback and the Vikings' third lost fumble of a wild half.

Was it a poor decision by Jefferson in the context of the rules? Yep. But at the same time, the rule itself just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. There's only one place on the field where a fumble that goes out of bounds results in a turnover.

Instead of potentially leading 14-10 at halftime, the Vikings trailed 13-7.

You can follow along for live updates during the second half here.

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all season long.

Subscribe to the Inside the Vikings newsletter

Follow Will Ragatz on Twitter

Published
Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Home/News