Jared Goff Didn’t Fumble Because The Nfl’s Passing Rules Are Broken

The NFL’s ability to ensure referees can determine the outcome of games ruined one of the most stunning contests of Week 1. New Orleans started the game looking like one of the worst teams in the NFL, as Detroit jumped out to a 21-0 lead while Tyler Shough struggled, only for the Saints to surge back, tie the game, and take it to overtime.

While the Lions would go on to win 31-30, the aftermath of the game has been focused on one key moment that happened earlier in the game, when Jared Goff seemingly gave up a sack fumble for a touchdown — which was then overcalled by video officials in New York.

Post-game, the decision was explained by the rules official who made the call, and why this was so confusing for fans is that it seemingly contradicted everything we’ve come to know about forward passes, hand movement, and the nature of throwing the ball. Here’s what the official said:

“Goff already started his throwing motion and then the defender contacted him, therefore it is a forward pass. […] The determining factor is ‘does the passer begin his throwing motion prior to contact from the defender.’ The throwing motion starts as he begins to bring the ball up as part of his windup and then the defender’s contact made the pass go backwards.”

This explanation includes nothing about the quarterback’s arm moving forward, and believe it or not, that’s correct. The current NFL rulebook doesn’t include wording about the position of the QB’s arm in terms of a forward pass, because you can find when the league changed the rule in the 2022 NFL rulebook to add this definition:

This addition also removed verbiage that detailed a forward pass being “intentional forward movement of the hand,” found in the 2021 rulebook, and redefined a pass to the infinitely more confusing “movement caused by a player intentionally throwing or shoveling/pushing (shovel pass) the ball.”

What happened between the Saints and Lions is simply a case where the league shadow changed this rule, and it hasn’t come up until this point. It defies belief that this is an actual rule in football, because it functionally makes it impossible for a quarterback to ever fumble the ball, so long as they’ve begun their throwing motion. Under this variation of the rule, the only time a QB can fumble is before they throw the ball, if they tuck the ball, or in the split second that it takes between a pump fake, using some hilarious terminology:

Item 3. Passer Re-Cocks His Arm. If the player loses possession of the ball while attempting to re-cock his arm, it is a fumble.

I don’t even fully understand what “attempting to re-cock his arm” is. What is the functional difference between “re-cocking the arm” and “beginning a throwing motion”? Try it. Right now. Tell me at what specific point you’re not beginning a throwing motion, but you are re-cocking your arm. Please let me know in the comments.

The end result of this is a play that was technically correct, but makes no logical sense. Jared Goff ejected the ball directly backwards, his arm wasn’t moving forward — and that should be a fumble. It’s just that simple. Instead the NFL has made this ridiculous rule tweak for seemingly no reason, and the play on Sunday is likely to be the canary in the coal mine. Coaches who might not have been aware of the change can now instruct their QB to always throw the ball away or make any kind of throwing motion on contact, because it’s never going to be ruled a fumble or intentional grounding.

Great work as always, NFL.