ESPN working hard to convince people

[KingKoolKat75]

...that Dez Brayant didn't catch the ball....but Detroit was robbed...

NFL and their minions have always hated Jones after he wrestled control of the Cowboy brand from the NFL.

 

[packerzrule]

Almost as funny as Cowboys fans agreeing with the picking up the DPI flag but crying in their beers over yesterdays call.

weird shit

 

[Lance Armstrong]

we got robbed of a great game, and great finish. Sucks, but such is life.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

we got robbed of a great game, and great finish. Sucks, but such is life.

It was still a great game.

If Dez holds onto the ball throughout the process or Romo doesn't throw up a jump ball on 4 and 1, who knows what would have happened. A bad decision by Romo in conjunction with a missed opportunity by Dez was the ultimate nail in the coffin. You gotta make the plays when it counts.

 

[Midnightangel]

It was still a great game.

If Dez holds onto the ball throughout the process or Romo doesn't throw up a jump ball on 4 and 1, who knows what would have happened. A bad decision by Romo in conjunction with a missed opportunity by Dez was the ultimate nail in the coffin. You gotta make the plays when it counts.

And tackles.

That was the big difference in this game - poor tackling on the part of the 'Boys. They allowed to many small plays to turn into big ones by taking poor angles or using bad technique.

 

[CarlSr]

Everyone's favorite former ref Mike Pereira was just on 1310 the Ticket in Dallas. He stated that while he agreed with the call, and he thinks the refs simply did their best to stick to the rule, the rule is a bad rule, and the part about "a football move" is completely subjective, not objective, as some posters have suggested. So at the end of the day, it's all about how a crew feels, not just enforcing words on paper. He also mentioned that while the rule makes no sense, the competition committee couldn't figure out hot to make an obvious catch a catch a few years ago when it happened to Calvin Johnson, and he has doubts they'll agree on a solution now. It will definitely come up though as Stephen Jones is on the committee.

On an unrelated note, he also mentioned that he thinks you send the best teams of refs to the playoffs, not All-Star crews. With that said, he also mentioned the refs union played a part in breaking up the teams because some highly rated refs weren't calling as many post season games as some refs that were rated lower, but on better crews. So once again, blame the refs for the shenanigans.

 

[Podunkparte]

Future Cowboys fan

 

[ratenstein]

I've always hated that maintains possession throughout the catch BS, and now that it happened to the Cowboys, hopefully there'll be pressure to finally change it.

If you catch the ball in the end zone, and hitting the ground causes you to cough it up, it's no catch, no TD... You literally can't touch down. You bumble into the endzone and it gets knocked out of your hands, doesn't matter if you break the plane, play's over, TD.

If you break the plane in possession of the ball, the play should be immediately over, no matter what.

 

[ducky]

I've always hated that maintains possession throughout the catch BS, and now that it happened to the Cowboys, hopefully there'll be pressure to finally change it.

If you catch the ball in the end zone, and hitting the ground causes you to cough it up, it's no catch, no TD... You literally can't touch down. You bumble into the endzone and it gets knocked out of your hands, doesn't matter if you break the plane, play's over, TD.

If you break the plane in possession of the ball, the play should be immediately over, no matter what.

Yeah why should WR's have to possess the ball to have it be ruled a catch?!?

 

[bigdeal701]

Everyone's favorite former ref Mike Pereira was just on 1310 the Ticket in Dallas. He stated that while he agreed with the call, and he thinks the refs simply did their best to stick to the rule, the rule is a bad rule, and the part about "a football move" is completely subjective, not objective, as some posters have suggested. So at the end of the day, it's all about how a crew feels, not just enforcing words on paper. He also mentioned that while the rule makes no sense, the competition committee couldn't figure out hot to make an obvious catch a catch a few years ago when it happened to Calvin Johnson, and he has doubts they'll agree on a solution now. It will definitely come up though as Stephen Jones is on the committee.

On an unrelated note, he also mentioned that he thinks you send the best teams of refs to the playoffs, not All-Star crews. With that said, he also mentioned the refs union played a part in breaking up the teams because some highly rated refs weren't calling as many post season games as some refs that were rated lower, but on better crews. So once again, blame the refs for the shenanigans.

I find it funny that the ground cannot cause a fumble but it can cause an incomplete pass. Doesn't make since to me. Dez caught the ball, got two feet down and made three steps, switched the ball to one hand and stretched to the goal line. When the ref explained it to Garrett he said Dez did make a football move. IMO that was BS, what other move could he have made? I do not believe even tho this was a bad call that it was the reason for the loss, but it sure didn't help. IMO Murray's fumble was the turning point of the game, if he holds on he more than likely scores to make the score 28 to 13. As for that pass being a bad call, well I disagree. Not many corners can cover Dez one on one with a jump ball and it was a perfect pass by Romo. Too many times Dallas has gotten to conservative with the game on the line, I have no problem with them going for the lead there. There was still 4 minutes left and the defense couldn't get a stop.

 

[BoBlake]

I find it funny that the ground cannot cause a fumble but it can cause an incomplete pass. Doesn't make since to me.

Doesn't make sense to you? Really?

I'd wager that 100% of incomplete passes are caused by the ball hitting the ground.

 

[gvsulaker82]

...that Dez Brayant didn't catch the ball....but Detroit was robbed...

NFL and their minions have always hated Jones after he wrestled control of the Cowboy brand from the NFL.

You musta been high when you posted this.

 

[dkmightyhammer]

I find it funny that the ground cannot cause a fumble but it can cause an incomplete pass. Doesn't make since to me. Dez caught the ball, got two feet down and made three steps, switched the ball to one hand and stretched to the goal line. When the ref explained it to Garrett he said Dez did make a football move. IMO that was BS, what other move could he have made? I do not believe even tho this was a bad call that it was the reason for the loss, but it sure didn't help. IMO Murray's fumble was the turning point of the game, if he holds on he more than likely scores to make the score 28 to 13. As for that pass being a bad call, well I disagree. Not many corners can cover Dez one on one with a jump ball and it was a perfect pass by Romo. Too many times Dallas has gotten to conservative with the game on the line, I have no problem with them going for the lead there. There was still 4 minutes left and the defense couldn't get a stop.

Making a football move is irrelevant because that is only the 2nd step in a three step process. Dez made the football move but then didn't control the ball throughout the process of the catch while going to the ground. When the ball moves along the ground it demonstrates a loss of control. That is the part of the rule where Dez loses his argument.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I find it funny that the ground cannot cause a fumble but it can cause an incomplete pass. Doesn't make since to me. Dez caught the ball, got two feet down and made three steps, switched the ball to one hand and stretched to the goal line. When the ref explained it to Garrett he said Dez did make a football move. IMO that was BS, what other move could he have made? I do not believe even tho this was a bad call that it was the reason for the loss, but it sure didn't help. IMO Murray's fumble was the turning point of the game, if he holds on he more than likely scores to make the score 28 to 13. As for that pass being a bad call, well I disagree. Not many corners can cover Dez one on one with a jump ball and it was a perfect pass by Romo. Too many times Dallas has gotten to conservative with the game on the line, I have no problem with them going for the lead there. There was still 4 minutes left and the defense couldn't get a stop.

Because a fumble means that the player has already established possession of the ball. That is not the case when there is a pass/catch attempt. The WR does not have the ball, and has to establish possession of the ball first. It's apples and oranges.

You can't change the rule. It seems silly, but really what is the alternative? The only clear way to remove all gray areas, and ambiguity, is to make it so that as soon as a WR catches the ball, and has 2 feet down, it's a catch. The problem with this would be: How manay times do we see a WR catch, come down with two feet, but before they can do anything else, they drop the ball...or are blasted and the ball is disloged. Now, all of those incompletions become fumbles.

The rule is a little wonky, but it's actually not that bad, and I think in general the refs get this call close enough to right more often than not. The Bryant issue has underlaying layers of difficulty because as the WR catches the ball, he can't be falling down/forward AND make a football move (such as Bryant falling forward after the catch, and while falling, stretching/lunging for the goal-line).

If the WR is falling, or his momentum from the catch is taking him towards the ground he, by rule, has to stop that momentum (or regain his balance and become 'up right') before he can make another football move. So, in effect, as long as the momentum from the catch takes the WR towards the ground, any other move that coincides with this momentum is considered still a part of the act of catching the ball, and thus why he has to maintain possession of the ball when it touches the ground.

 

[ducky]

Edit: Nevermind. Cincyfan78 beat me to the punch.

 

[ducky]

You can't change the rule. It seems silly, but really what is the alternative? The only clear way to remove all gray areas, and ambiguity, is to make it so that as soon as a WR catches the ball, and has 2 feet down, it's a catch. The problem with this would be: How manay times do we see a WR catch, come down with two feet, but before they can do anything else, they drop the ball...or are blasted and the ball is disloged. Now, all of those incompletions become fumbles.

Exactly. Obvious drops would become catches (catches more than fumbles usually because WR would be ruled down by contact).

The Dez play will never be a catch in the NFL rule book. To make it so would open up pandora's box and you would have plays virtually every NFL week that would have obvious drops be ruled as catches.

 

[gohusk]

Why do people keep saying that the ground can't cause a fumble? The ground can cause a fumble if the runner isn't down by contact.

 

[bigdeal701]

Doesn't make sense to you? Really?

I'd wager that 100% of incomplete passes are caused by the ball hitting the ground.

Not after they are caught. The rule needs to go.

 

[BoBlake]

Not after they are caught. The rule needs to go.

It wasn't a catch.

 

[Malibu]

Why are you watching ESPN? It brainwashes the average fan like many of you. QB's win and lose games not teams. ETC... It's the type of people they want to watch there crap. Skip Bayless agrees.