Robert Meachem's Fumble Return TD In Week 13

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A wild play in the WAS/NO game in week 13 caused a conundrum in fantasy football scoring in Yahoo leagues. In the 2nd quarter WAS safety Kareem Moore intercepted Drew Brees and attempted a return when NO receiver Robert Meachem stripped the ball and returned it for a TD. Yahoo initially scored the play as a defensive TD for NO but it was reversed as a 'offensive fumble return for a TD' and 6 points were given to Meachem.

Yahoo made the right call. Meachem should be awarded the points, as it was NO's offense on the field and not their defense. It can be argued that when an offense turns the ball over that they become the defense as they try to stop the opposing team from scoring. However, if you agree with that idea then a team DEF could not score a TD in fantasy because they would be considered the offense at that point.

I wrote back to Yahoo and advised they should change the name of the rule 'offensive fumble return for a TD' to 'offensive turnover recovered for a TD'. Here is a log of the email sent to Morris of the Yahoo Fantasy Sports Team.

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R. Meachem's defensive touchdown in week 13.

I just want to know if Yahoo's ruling on this play is consistent.
Has it always been when an offensive player makes a defensive play that
the points go to the team DEF, and not to the actual offensive player?
Has Yahoo's adjustment been made to all Yahoo Fantasy Football
leagues? Has there been any complaints or praises about this adjustment?

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

I appreciate your bringing the issue with the New Orleans/Washington
game to our attention. I know this comes at an inconvenient time for you
and your league and for that I apologize. We are currently looking into
the Brees INT/Fumble play in which Meachem scored a TD. We will update
scoring in accordance to our rules when a ruling has been reached.

Thank you for using Yahoo! and for your interest in Yahoo! Fantasy
Sports. If you have further comments or questions, please feel free to
reply to this email and we will gladly assist you.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

Regards,

Morris

Yahoo! Fantasy Sports Customer Care
Sports Fantasy Football

Morris,

Thank you for responding to the scoring issue in week 13. It's really more of a puzzle than an inconvenience. It looks like Yahoo made their decision.

I've noticed that the points for the TD were awarded to Meachem with an asterisk that footnotes it as an 'offensive fumble return for a TD'. I believe this is the right call but I would recommend renaming the rule to something like 'offensive turnover for a TD', then I think all the bases are covered.

Thank you for the support.

Jan

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

We're glad to hear that your question has been answered and thanks for
your offensive turnover suggestion.

If there's anything else we can help you with, please let us know.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

Regards,

Jimmy

Yahoo! Fantasy Sports Customer Care
Sports Fantasy Football