The New Orleans Saints scored a routine defensive touchdown against the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon. Or so they thought, or so everyone thought.
With the Lions on top 7-0 early in the second quarter, New Orleans defensive end Chase Young beat his man on the edge and forced what looked to be a routine fumble out of Detroit quarterback Jared Goff. It appeared to be a straightforward fumble given that the ball traveled backward, and Goff’s arm did not look to be moving forward.
Saints safety Jonas Sanker ultimately picked up the football and carried it into the end zone untouched to get New Orleans on the scoreboard, but only for a brief moment.
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After reviewing the play, officials determined that Goff had started his throwing motion, and given that the quarterback’s intent was to throw the football forward, it was ruled an incomplete pass.
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The football didn’t actually travel forward, but Goff’s intention overrules the fact that the ball traveled backward, apparently.
“He had started his throwing motion,” Mike Pereira, NFL rules analyst for Fox Sports, explained on the broadcast. “Now, throwing motion is bringing the ball up; forget about the hand at this point going forward. Throwing motion starts, hand going up, then he’s hit, ball comes loose, his intent was to throw it forward. Since that motion had already started, that’s going to be an incomplete pass, no matter where it lands.”
While taking intent into consideration feels like a gray area, especially during a bang-bang play, the explanation that it doesn’t matter where the football actually lands makes the rule that much more confusing.
Nevertheless, the Saints’ touchdown was wiped off the board, the Lions ultimately punted at the end of the drive, and Detroit took a 7-0 lead into halftime.
We’re not even a full week into the 2026 NFL season, but the Goff fumble being reversed because of his intent to throw the football forward could go down as the strangest sequence of the year.
