Jets WR Malachi Corley celebrates early, drops ball before goal line on TNF

It looked like the New York Jets were going to take a lead in Thursday night’s game against the Texans. Malachi Corley took a reverse hand-off for what appeared to be a touchdown – but he dropped the ball at the goal line, resulting in a fumble and a touchback.

Corley took the handoff and looked like he put the Jets ahead 6-0 in the second quarter. But upon review, he dropped the ball at the one-yard line and it rolled out of the end zone. By rule, it was a touchback and the Texans got the ball back.

Prime Video rules analyst Terry McAulay walked through the ruling, explaining what each different outcome meant. It was clear Corley dropped the ball before he got to the end zone, which meant the officials had to look at what happened to the ball from there. Since it went out the back of the end zone, Houston got the ball at the 25-yard line.

I THINK HE DROPPED IT BEFORE SCORING pic.twitter.com/PQkG990Emq

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) November 1, 2024

“Al, I see he clearly drops the football before it breaks the plane,” McAulay said. “Now, what we have to go through is see what happens to the football after that. If the Jets recover, it’s a touchdown. If Houston recovers, it’s a touchback. Or if it goes out of bounds, it’s a touchback. If it just sits there with no recovery, then it’s gonna go back to the Jets at the spot of the fumble.”

The Jets selected Malachi Corley in the third round of the NFL Draft out of Western Kentucky, and Thursday’s play would’ve been his first career touchdown. He entered the game with one catch for four yards.

New York is looking to right the ship after a loss to the New England Patriots to fall to 2-6 on the season. The Jets have had a rough go since parting ways with head coach Robert Saleh, losing all three games under interim Jeff Ulbrich despite making a trade for Davante Adams. On the whole, New York is on a five-game skid after starting the year 2-1.