I am wondering what the ruling is on the MNF TD, where McCardell scooped up a fumbled ball after an INT. Was this considered a Defensive TD or Special Teams TD? I was told that after an INT and the player tries to return for TD, the Offensive unit becomes Def. until play ends or ball is turned over again?

The offense is the offense, and the defense is the defense. And as far as the NFL is concerned, that was a TB by McCardell (not the defense), and a TD allowed by the defense.

It was a offically scored a touchdown for Tampa Bay's Defense - thats the way it was offically scored because of the change of posession. Fantasy football players with Kennan McCardell thought it was a crummy decision.

I'm sure we don't want to get into fantasy football scoring here - but perhaps the stats services they are using did not update after the initial stats were reported.

The NFL did initially report this TD as a TD for the defense. However, it then corrected that error. The TD was a fumble return of 57 yards by Keenan McCardell, and is not credited to TB's defense.

Mike - we use CBS Sportsline for our scoring - here is the caption from our site

McCardell Fumble Recovery Will Be Scored as Defensive Touchdown 10/7/2003
The play in which Keenan McCardell picked up Michael Doss's fumble and ran it in for a touchdown will be scored as a touchdown for the Buccaneers defense. The reason is as follows: once Michael Doss intercepted Brad Johnson's pass, there was a change of possession and the Bucs become the defensive team. Doss then fumbled the ball and McCardell recovered the fumble and returned it for a TD. Even though McCardell is typically an offensive player, he was considered a defensive player at the point he took possession of the ball. As a result, the Bucs defense will be credited with a Defensive Fumble Recovery and a Defensive TD.

[Edited by tnroundballref on Oct 9th, 2003 at 02:50 PM]