New York Jets rookie Malachi Corley was inches, literally, from his first NFL touchdown.
Malachi Corley drops football 1 yard from touchdown in bonehead play of the year
Jets rookie Malachi Corey was inches away from his first TD. Inches
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
In the blink of an eye, however, his first NFL touchdown became a touchback, gifting the Houston Texans possession of the football.
With Thursday night’s game between the Texans and the Jets knotted at 0-0, Aaron Rodgers and company were on the move, facing a 1st and 10 early in the second quarter. The Jets called for an end-around to Corley, with Rodgers flipping Corley the football working towards the right side.
Corley burst into the secondary and looked to have his first NFL touchdown, but eagle-eyed observers noted that the rookie might have dropped the football before the end zone:
The play was reviewed, not only to determine whether Corley had indeed dropped the football but what happened to the football after he dropped it. If a Jets player had managed to recover the football, it still would have been a touchdown. But if a Texans player recovered the loose football, it would have been a touchback.
Instead, the ball simply rolled out of the end zone, which also resulted in a touchback:
At least one group believed it was a touchdown: The social media team for the Jets. They posted a clip of the play on X (formerly known as Twitter) before receiving a “Community Note:”
Remember kids, make sure you cross the goal line before you start celebrating.
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