McCardell MNF fumble recovery TD

[twinlizards]

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?

[MD Longhorn]

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.

[tnroundballref]

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.

[MD Longhorn]

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.

[tnroundballref]

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]