Dez Bryant made brilliant catch. Cowboys hosed

[BoBlake]

One in which the ball never touches the ground.

Or one where the receiver has enough of a grip on the ball that the ground doesn't cause it doesn't pop loose and require him to catch it again on his back.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I dont even think it is a bad rule. A WR should have to secure the football when he goes to the ground. If you take this whole process rule out, it would leave way too much gray area that would force refs to make a subjective call on whether a WR did or didn't have possession before the WR hit the ground.

You could make it as simple as...catch the ball, have two feet land in bounds...catch. No freakin' move needed, no other interpretation needed...two feet, with the ball, immediately signals a catch.


That being said...it was the right call. The rule is stupid, but you can't argue the call being overturned.

 

[gordontrue]

Here is a link to the NFL rule book. http://static.nfl.com/static/conten...pdfs/11_Rule8_ForwardPass_BackPass_Fumble.pdf

If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.

They added the red to the rule book for just this situation.

Yeah, that's the exact paragraph I quoted earlier.

At best, its vague... The sentence is talking about the player contacting the ground... not the ball.

The part that talks about the ball hitting the ground only says that if control is lost before the ball touching the ground... it must be regained prior to the ball touching the ground... in which case its complete.


All that to speak nothing of the fact.. that at some point the receiver has control and has turned into a ball carrier...

 

[ATL96Steeler]

The irony is not lost on Lions fans!

But the fact remains he took two steps after contact with the Packer Defender and even got his off hand down before the elbow and ball came down. At some point you have to say he has control. The biggest fact is they ruled the ball a catch on the field, the rest is judgement so how do you overturn the field call? I didn't see overwhelming evidence it could go either way.

Clearly a catch in terms of him having possession...had he gone out of bounds standing...catch...but when you're going to the ground the ball cannot hit the ground...in this case it did, by rule, no catch. The rule is the debate here...not catch or no catch.

 

[Midnightangel]

It was the right call.

You can argue it's a stupid rule but the refs still have to enforce it. If Jerruh wants to change it, he can bring it up at the competition meeting in May.

The ground caused the ball to come loose.

Sucks when the refs over turn a call so late in the game and you don't have time to recover, doesn't it?

If you're unhappy with the call - fill out a form and get in line behind the Lions fans.

 

[TxHeat]

It was the right call.

You can argue it's a stupid rule but the refs still have to enforce it. If Jerruh wants to change it, he can bring it up at the competition meeting in May.

The ground caused the ball to come loose.

Sucks when the refs over turn a call so late in the game and you don't have time to recover, doesn't it?

If you're unhappy with the call - fill out a form and get in line behind the Lions fans.

speaking of forms...John Harbaugh is filling out forms as we speak.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Here is a link to the NFL rule book. http://static.nfl.com/static/conten...pdfs/11_Rule8_ForwardPass_BackPass_Fumble.pdf

If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.

They added the red to the rule book for just this situation.

But does blue only count when red takes place? because red never happened.

in my eyes the red is the details of the blue rule.

 

[Midnightangel]

John Harbaugh is filling out forms as we speak.

He has no reason to complain either. His linemen cut block on every play AND they tripped our WR in Pittsburgh, then ran up his back - no flag for DPI.

His team had a 14 point lead.

Twice.

If you blow that, you deserve to lose.

 

[Midnightangel]

But does blue only count when red takes place? because red never happened?

in my eyes the red is the details of the blue rule.

Yeah, it did.

The ball hit the ground and it's clear on video.

Dallas shouldn't have been in this game in the first place, it should have been the Lions.

Live by the zebra, die by the zebra.

 

[gordontrue]

A receiver who just caught the ball and has clear possession should have as a much of a right to dive and stretch for the endzone without fear of losing the ball in contacting the ground as any ball carrier

 

[trojanfight]

No Cowboy fans wanted to admit they got a win handed to them vs Detroit. Many of the lion players were calling it karma the way Dallas lost. After the overturn the Cowboys defense had chance to stop the packers giving romo another chance to come back but failed to do so.

 

[scotsman1948]

It was the correct call based on the rules. And I'm not sure that it should have been ruled a catch regardless. Those 3 steps were not in control

really the only time there was no control was when he hit the ground. he caught it with both hands, had complete control of it while taking 3 steps & transferring it to his left hand. and according to the rules the ground can not cause a fumble. based on their rules he was down by contact with his left knee on the ground and was stretching for the goalline

 

[beardown07]

The NFL has ruined the game. Over-analyzing it to the point of madness.


They need to go back to the "eyeball-test" and quit relying on slo-motion replays.

 

[Doublejive]

Don't worry Cowboys you are the Champs among some in your base.

 

[Cincyfan78]

really the only time there was no control was when he hit the ground. he caught it with both hands, had complete control of it while taking 3 steps & transferring it to his left hand. and according to the rules the ground can not cause a fumble. based on their rules he was down by contact with his left knee on the ground and was stretching for the goalline

Your confusing a running rule with a pass-catching rule. Even after contact, in the act of a catch, the player must maintain possession of the ball.

Look, the rule sucks. No one is going to argue this. But the call was, unfortunately, 100% correct.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

View attachment 14035

Don't worry Cowboys you are the Champs among some in your base.

Hey the Hawks fans should be pissed at the packer fans on this board.

The Pack fans were very cool last week and proved that a lot Hawk fans just seem to be suffering from a inferiority complex.

 

[ducky]

Look, the rule sucks. No one is going to argue this. But the call was, unfortunately, 100% correct.

I'll argue that the rule doesn't sucks. It is a good rule.

It needs to be in there or else there becomes a gray area on possession that one ref could rule one way and another a different way on the same play. This rule keeps a subjective call out of the game. In fact that is why it was put into the rule book in the first place.

Simple fact is if you want a catch, don't let the ground knock the ball loose from your hands.

 

[Doublejive]

Hey the Hawks fans should be pissed at the packer fans on this board.

The Pack fans were very cool last week and proved that a lot Hawk fans just seem to be suffering from a inferiority complex.

In your head.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

really the only time there was no control was when he hit the ground. he caught it with both hands, had complete control of it while taking 3 steps & transferring it to his left hand. and according to the rules the ground can not cause a fumble. based on their rules he was down by contact with his left knee on the ground and was stretching for the goalline

scotsman -- you are correct -- the ground can't cause a fumble. it most definitely CAN cause an incomplete pass though, which is what was called.

if you want to look at a perfect example of why it is called the Calvin Johnson rule. Look on youtube, the Calvin Johnson catch against the Bears. He not only caught the ball in the end zone. He got two feet down, his elbows, his butt, his knees and only lost the ball after trying to stand up with the ball in one hand.

in the end -- Karma came back to bite the Cowboys in the ass. they only advanced because of reversed calls and missed calls the NFL had to apologize for, so it is only fitting they get bounced from the playoffs the exact same way.

i think my favorite part of it all -- it was the SAME REF that overturned the Calvin Johnson catch, that overturned the Dez Bryant drop. It is funny how life works sometimes.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

really the only time there was no control was when he hit the ground. he caught it with both hands, had complete control of it while taking 3 steps & transferring it to his left hand. and according to the rules the ground can not cause a fumble. based on their rules he was down by contact with his left knee on the ground and was stretching for the goalline

By rule...this one was pretty clear...if you are going to the ground while in the process of catching the ball, you must maintain control of the ball to the ground...he didn't.