The Dez Bryant catch.

[Dave Gray]

It's a catch.  Start there.

If you say that it's not a catch because of the rule, you need to change the rule.

This is the perfect example of the NFL over-officiating itself out of great plays.  Everyone knows a catch when they see it, so if you have rules that make the best play of the game overturned by refs and called not a catch because of some technicality, you need to change the rule.

He catches the ball at the 5 and it gets slightly dislodged after 3 steps at the goal line.  ...and he retains possession anyway.

The fact that what constitutes a catch when you're falling vs. when you're not vs. when you're in the endzone, etc -- it's all dumb.

Fix it, NFL.

[Brian Fein]

The rule blows.  I've said that for years.  I hate it.

I saw some carefully-selected photos on the interwebs that show that the ball never even touched the ground.  His hand was under the ball when it became dislodged.  Also saw someone else say that if you move the goal line closer, not only would it have been ruled a catch, but likely a TD, since the ball would have come out after breaking the plane of the end zone.

Its impossible to put a clearly-defined and concrete set of circumstances on something as subjective as "did he catch it or not."  But the NFL is trying to do that to take the subjectivity out of making the call.

The rule should have been changed after Calvin Johnson's TD reversal against the Bears.

[Cathal]

It was clearly a catch. I've hated this type of rule.

[Dave Gray]

It doesn't even matter if the ball touches the ground or not.  Whatever happens is 5 yards later, after he'd already caught the ball.  I have no love for the Cowboys.  I even enjoy the schadenfreude of them losing by a shitty call, the week after they benefited from it.  But this could've been one of the all time great plays in NFL history and it's negated by a stupid rule.

[Phishfan]

The rule is clear cut so we aren't starting with it is a catch because it isn't. That is simple; argument over.

Brian, I'd love to see those pics because I'm pretty sure my eyes saw it on the ground. As for the goal line guy, the rule doesn't change because of position on the field.

[Brian Fein]

it ABSOLUTELY matters if it touches the ground or not.  If the ball never touches the ground, how could it POSSIBLY be an incomplete pass?  

If you catch, fall, ball dislodges and you are laying on the ground and re-catch, ITS A CATCH, even by today's rule.  In this case the ASSUMPTION was that it was the ground that caused the ball to become dislodged.  If the ball never touched the ground, its a catch by any set of rules.

[Brian Fein]

Brian, I'd love to see those pics because I'm pretty sure my eyes saw it on the ground. As for the goal line guy, the rule doesn't change because of position on the field.

 its small, i couldn't find a bigger one...

[Phishfan]

That is a compelling photo, but I'm not sure it can be taken exclusively though as a set of photos doesn't show the entire course of events. In this one, I don't see how the ball could not have touched the ground.



More likely it had already hit the ground before that first photo in your series.

[Brian Fein]

Perhaps, but in your photo he still has control of the ball...  Which is perfectly allowed. 

In any case, since assumptions are not allowed, the VERY MOST you can say from that view is "inconclusive"

[Phishfan]

Inconclusive? We have very different perceptions.

[Dave Gray]

But he catches the ball, is my point, Phish.  If you say that the rule is clear, then you need a new rule.  If the rule is that whatever Dez did isn't a catch, it's a bad rule -- because it's a catch.  He catches the ball and runs 5 yards.

[Phishfan]

If you have ever seen Dez Bryant run, I wouldn't use that term to describe what he was doing. It looked like he was stumbling to the ground. The guy never had his feet underneath him.

[MikeO]

Problem with the NFL is they have too many rules. They have taken a simple sport and complicated it to the point the refs and announcers covering the games don't even understand it and they get paid by the league!

Tuck Rule (i know they got rid of it last year)....this catch rule....what is and isn't review-able...fumbles that aren't fumbles cause a QB's hand is moving forward. Some of the rules are just dumb. Flat out dumb.

They need to get rid of like 4 or 5 of these silly rules. Let coaches challenge EVERYTHING, you get only 2 challenges a game even if you get one or both right...and be done with it. So they will use them wisely knowing they only got 2 and it won't slow down games and make them 4+ hour games.

To me that is a catch 10 times out of 10 (and I hate Dallas) but by their over-complicated rule its not.

[Cathal]

Problem with the NFL is they have too many rules. They have taken a simple sport and complicated it to the point the refs and announcers covering the games don't even understand it and they get paid by the league!

Tuck Rule (i know they got rid of it last year)....this catch rule....what is and isn't review-able...fumbles that aren't fumbles cause a QB's hand is moving forward. Some of the rules are just dumb. Flat out dumb.

They need to get rid of like 4 or 5 of these silly rules. Let coaches challenge EVERYTHING, you get only 2 challenges a game even if you get one or both right...and be done with it. So they will use them wisely knowing they only got 2 and it won't slow down games and make them 4+ hour games.

To me that is a catch 10 times out of 10 (and I hate Dallas) but by their over-complicated rule its not.

This is pretty much what should happen. Simplify the game and you'll get a lot more fans as well. My fiancee wants to watch the game and get involved but she can't enjoy it because all of the rules are complex and have exceptions, blah blah blah. Just simplify some of the rules.

[Sunstroke]

It's a catch.  Start there.

It's not a catch, so let's stop there before you get started.

He catches the ball at the 5 and it gets slightly dislodged after 3 steps at the goal line.  ...and he retains possession anyway.

Technically two steps, but not really steps, because he's falling to the ground. It is important to note that "falling to the ground" does not constitute a football move.

It doesn't even matter if the ball touches the ground or not.  Whatever happens is 5 yards later, after he'd already caught the ball. 

It does matter if the ball touches the ground, and it was 3 yards, not 5.

If you want to change the rule, no problem...I'm totally in favor of it. As the rule currently stands (read: what the referees were required to abide by at the time the play occurred), it wasn't a catch.

It was a completely awesome almost-catch


http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000456759/Did-Dez-catch-it