Challenge flag after Bryant catch
They were near the two-minute warning when the Cowboys were left with a fourth down and two yards to go situation at Green Bay’s 32, trailing the Packers 26-21. Dallas coach Jason Garrett knew if they kicked a field-goal, or even punted to leave Green Bay deep in their end, he might not get the ball back. He went for it on fourth down.
Tony Romo threw it up toward the sidelines near the goal and miraculously Dez Bryant leapt up and over the defender, grabbing the ball and lunging to the ground and toward the end-zone, thrusting his arms and the ball forward. When he hit the ground he was just shy of the end-zone; upon hitting it the ball bobbled in his hands before he pulled it in..
The ruling on the field was that the catch was made. Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy threw the challenge flag and referee Gene Steratore reversed the ruling and ruled it a no-catch, effectively ending the game. Later, the NFL’s head of officiating, Dean Blandino, tweeted his support of the decision.
Here’s what the rule states:
“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.”
Bryant lunges toward goal-line
The issue here is this: he did not lose control of the ball as a follow-through of the catch when hitting the ground, which is the scenario the rule is intended to prevent. You catch a ball and fall, you gotta maintain throughout.
This is what happened: Bryant caught the ball, it’s indisputable that he had possession, and his intention after he caught it was to get it to the goal-line. He clearly felt what was necessary was a move done all over the league now: to wit to dive forward with the ball and break the plane of the goal-line, as must happen for a touchdown to occur.
So Bryant wasn’t moving to the ground as a result of the catch, but because he wanted to get to the ground so he could reach out for the goal-line and break the plane. He possessed the ball, no question, and then threw himself forward to the ground so the could reach out and score. He makes that catch 20 yards from the end-zone and he’s fighting to stay on his feet, cradling the ball, and if he went down he would have had it safely tucked away.
Hitting the ball to the ground was not a result of the catch, but a result of his rather understandable intention of scoring a touchdown. Simply because he missed the goal-line does not nullify the catch. Here’s the end of the rule: “If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.” He never lost control, he just tried to score.
Cowboys loss is on the ref
There likely are some refs in the NFL that could think more flexibly and make the correct call, which does not require doing anything but following that existing rule, but unfortunately for Dallas one of them wasn’t officiating the game.
No question Packer’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers was a warrior, obviously his leg injury was giving him trouble but he got it going in spectacular fashion in the second and lead his team to the lead. But it was the ref that gave them the win.
Dallas coach Garrett stopped short of saying it was the refs that gave Green Bay the win, but he did articulate what happened on that crucial play correctly. “Dez reached out to the goal line like he’s done so many times,” Garrett said. “It’s a signature play for him. He maintained possession of it throughout, in my opinion.”
He’s got that right.
