Article
by Chris Saunders
If you would have thought that the NFL
Playoffs wouldn’t be filled with some drama, sadly you where highly mistaken.
First we had the infamous defensive pass interference call in the
Detroit-Cowboys game. At first the ref’s were going to call a penalty on rookie
J.J Wilcox, but somehow the flag was picked up without much of an explanation.
Then we had a conversational call regarding the patriots using legal/illegal
men during their offensive drives almost to confuse the Ravens, which they did eventually
win 35-31. That brings us to Green bay against my Dallas Cowboys. It was 4th down and 2, on the Green Bay 35 yard line, and 4:40 left in the fourth quarter. Dallas has the ball knowing if they don’t convert here the game is over. Romo calls for an out rout, making Dez have single coverage, and on Romo’s last bit of strength he throws an almost accurate pass high enough for Dez to leap over Green Bay’s Cornerback Sam Shields. Dez somehow is able to grab the ball and come down in fair territory. As he comes down he tries to stretch his right arm out to score the go ahead touchdown for Dallas. Both Dez and Dallas think they have a touchdown, but the sideline ref say’s he is down at the one yard line. Green Bay’s head coach Mike McCarthy, doesn’t feel like Dez has complete control of the ball, and throws the challenge flag. McCarthy had only won one challenge all regular season for Green Bay, but after further review the ref’s said Dez didn’t have full control, and it was an incomplete pass. This gave the ball back to the Packers, and would beat Dallas 26-21. There have been numerous coverage and media reports regarding this play. This is the conclusion I have made.
According to rule 8, Section 1, Article
1, Item one, it’s stated that “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." While Dez did lose control of the ball, if you look more
carefully he was fully down both knees and arms. As he was down and no one
touched him he was trying to do what he has always done when he is close to the
end zone; which is dive and get the touchdown that he sole heartily deserves.
I’ve heard from many people that no matter how you twist and turn this, the
rule states that if the player doesn’t have 100% full control through the catch
and/or the ball touches the ground, it’s an incomplete pass.
Being a cowboys fan, I was watching the
game after the play was overturned and I thought to myself, “Is this payback
from the ref’s for what had happened in Jerry World a week ago?” It quite
possibly could have had something to do with it, but in a lot of ways Dallas
shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. They let Green Bay
battle back from being down 21-13, they let Rodgers go almost untouched in the
second half going 7-7 in the last drive as he embarked on two 80+ yard drives.
There is also the fumble by Murray as he was trying to stretch out for a couple
of more yards, and the time out before the half that negated the forward
progress that the zebras gave Witten on his catch causing Dallas to kick a 50
yard field goal, and miss (thanks to the snappers false start). In conclusion it was a catch, but this was a season to remember personally for myself, because I heard through the summer the cowboys would be 3-13/dead last in the division/ be the sorry mediocrity that they have been going 8-8 the last three years. It wasn’t anything close to that, as Dallas went 12-4, won a playoff game and were able to close out games either in overtime/or more importantly the fourth quarter, which had plagued them for so many years. The future in Dallas is bright, but in order to sustain this, the cowboys need to take care of expiring contracts- RB Demarco Murray, WR Dez Bryant, and Offensive Coordinator’s Scoot Linehan/Bill Callahan. Dallas only went as far as they did this season because of Demarco Murray rushing for over 1,800 yards. Dez Bryant has emerged as one of the best receivers in the NFL, and a definite deep threat for Tony Romo. Scott Linehan bringing in his own style of running the ball first, and having that offensive line full of first round picks most notability Pro Bowl/All Pro rookie Zac Martin (taken over Johnny Manziel). If Dallas can keep this core and keep improving on the defense side of the ball, there is no reason why Dallas won’t be competing next year, and possibly reach the super bowl.
I agree totally its a catch if you ignore the rule 8.1.3 However, when the ball makes contact with ground you must have control of it. When the ball pops in the air forum the ground he did not have control of it. All the other stuff about acts common football are removed from the equation. The ground came into play. Are you aware of the history of this rule? The rule is called http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Emanuelthe Bert Emanuel rule,
ReplyDeletehttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Emanuel Tampa ways nullified a chance to go to SB 34 the real focus of the rule was to stop celebrations where receiver did not fully control the ball when the ball hit the ground. As I watched the replay of his attempt to catch the ball I said no catch! A good analogy of this would be like flying a plane it don't matter what stunts you do while in the air it matters if you land the plane( the football) safely. Unfortunately,for Dallas and Dez they did not know the rules of the game.