One of the few turning points in the Philadelphia Eagles 34-28 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football was when Justin Jefferson fumbled the football out of the end zone with less than a minute left to play in the first half.

Instead of the Minnesota Vikings taking a 14-10 lead into halftime, the Eagles were able to get the football back and put Jake Elliott in position to kick a 61-yard field goal to give the Birds a 13-7 lead. 

Justin Jefferson End Zone Fumble vs Eagles

Obviously, with the game ending with a 34-28 final score, the Jefferson fumble was one of the main topics of conversation.

I would like to remind fans that teams are awarded zero points for ‘almost touchdowns’ and if you’re one of the rats that hopped on social media to demand a rule change because of what happened to the Vikings, then you’re softer than baby shit.

Trust me. I understand that there could be better alternatives the current NFL rules regarding these types of plays. 

In my opinion, one of the most logical alternatives would be to return the football to the spot of the original play rather that it resulting in a change of possession. While that could serve as a rule change, we should also be very clear about the fact that any live ball that goes through the end zone and is ruled out of bounds is a touchback for the defending team. 

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This is true on kickoffs, punts, and any live ball where no side has possession. That’s simply the rules of NFL Football. It’s not a special rule. It’s literally the normal end zone rule. 

Here’s a question instead: Why isn’t anyone bringing up the fact that Justin Jefferson made a bone-headed play by not securing the catch and ultimately fumbling the football into the end zone?

That seems like the only mistake that happened on this play, right?

Did Justin Jefferson not know the risk of fumbling the football out of the back of the end zone that would result in a turnover and the Eagles taking possession of the football at the 20-yard line? If not, then who is coaching the Minnesota Vikings and why aren’t their players familiar with the rules of the game? 

Of course that wasn’t the case and Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell knew exactly what happened.

Here’s what he said following the game about the Justin Jefferson end zone fumble.

“They looked at that and basically said it was possession and then clearly with the reach it counted as a football move. My hope is that it wasn’t over the pylon. I thought until we saw that last angle, from where I was standing, it did not look like it went over the pylon. I think they were able to confirm that it did. We just have to continue to emphasize decision making techniques and fundamentals, as far as the ball carriers go. Like I said, Justin is just trying to make a play in that moment and the hardest thing to do is to get a guy not to reach the ball out when they are that close to scoring a touchdown in a critical moment.”

Much like the “tush push” conversation on social media, there’s a very simple way to handle these types of issues that fanbases can’t seem to process on the internet. Obviously, if you don’t want to risk turning the football over due to a fumble that happens inside the end zone, then don’t fumble the football.

It’s really that easy. Immediately jumping to conversations about changing the rules of the game to prevent these types of situations is completely ridiculous.

Like I said on Twitter last night, maybe just hold onto the football and we won’t have to talk about it.

I don’t know maybe just hold onto the football and we won’t have to worry about it. https://t.co/XsbZhylTeX

— Drew Smith (@drewmsmith) September 15, 2023

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