NFC championship: Commanders warned by officials that bad goal-line 'behavior' could result in a free Eagles TD

Has there ever been an NFL touchdown awarded without one actually being scored?

None that we can think of, but the Washington Commanders came precariously close to that scenario in Sunday's NFC championship game.

With the Philadelphia Eagles in their trademark tush-push formation at the goal line in the fourth quarter, the Commanders repeatedly jumped off sides, drawing multiple warnings from the officiating crew. One of those included referee Shawn Hochuli telling the Commanders that the Eagles would be awarded a touchdown without actually scoring one if they kept doing it.

Frankie Luvu started it all. The Commanders linebacker leapt over the line of scrimmage before the snap on the second-and-goal play and crashed into the Eagles offensive line. He was flagged for encroachment, and the ball was moved half the distance to the goal inside the 1-yard line.

On the next play, Luvu did it again, except this time he hurdled the Eagles offensive line into the backfield.

This foul drew the first warning from Hochuli.

"Encroachment, defense No. 4," Hochuli said, announcing the penalty. "Washington has been warned if that foul is intentionally done again, it will be an unsportsmanlike conduct foul. For now, it's half the distance to the goal, and it's still second down."

The Commanders did not heed the warning. Luvu was done with his high-flying shenanigans. But multiple Commanders defenders jumped across the line before the next attempted snap, and defensive lineman Jonathan Allen drew Washington's third consecutive encroachment penalty.

"Encroachment, defense No. 93," Hochuli said. Washington has been advised that at some point the referee can award a score if this type of behavior happens again."

Hochuli's "some point" appeared to be in play if Washington jumped again on the next snap. Fortunately for the Commanders, they did not. Unfortunately for the Commanders, Jalen Hurts scored a touchdown the old-fashioned way. The Eagles quarterback carried the ball across the goal line for a 41-23 Eagles lead.

The entire sequence begged the question. Can officials really award a touchdown if one isn't actually score. It turns out that they can. Here it is, straight from the NFL rulebook:

<strong>Article 1. Touchdown Plays</strong>A touchdown is scored, and the ball becomes dead when:

1. the ball is on, above, or behind the plane of the opponents' goal line (extended) and is in possession of a runner who has advanced from the field of play into the end zone

2. a ball in possession of an airborne runner is on, above, or behind the plane of the goal line, and some part of the ball passed over or inside the pylon

3. a ball in player possession touches the pylon, provided that, after contact by an opponent, no part of the player's body, except his hands or feet, struck the ground before the ball touched the pylon

4. Any player who is legally inbounds secures possession of a loose ball that is on, above, or behind the opponent's goal line (3-2-4 and 3-2-7.)

5. the Referee awards a touchdown to a team that has been denied one by a palpably unfair act.

Bullet point No. 5 is the relevant point here. It turns out that referees, in fact, can award a touchdown if one has been denied by what officials deem to be "a palpably unfair act."

The Commanders straddled that line and came dangerously close to committing a "palpably unfair act." Ultimately, they couldn't stop the Eagles either was as Philadelphia lit up the scoreboard with a berth in the Super Bowl at stake.