In the second half of Sunday’s Bears-Lions game, a Bears player clearly pushed a Lions player into the ball after a Chicago punt, and the Bears recovered it. The ruling on the field stood after replay review, because replay review isn’t available for the question of whether the Detroit player had been pushed into the ball.
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On the surface, this short pass that went to Lions receiver Golden Tate doesn’t look like a catch.
Unlike the Calvin Johnson process-of-the-catch play against the Bears in 2010, referee Walt Coleman said Tate’s play was ruled a catch because he was not going to the ground when the ball came loose.
The referees initially ruled the play an interception, but after further review, they overturned the call and awarded Tate a touchdown. This is not a receiver who is going to the ground….
Of course, the replay reversal probably would never have happened had Bears defenders Jarvis Jenkins and Sam Acho not both missed tackles on Stafford’s 10-yard scramble on third-and-eight earlier on the possession. Catch that ball, secure it and go to the ground.
Blandino explained the ruling, but that fans, announces and players can’t tell what a catch is from week to week is a problem for the NFL. Game broadcasters thought it was an INT. FOX rules analyst Mike Pereria said believed the play to be an interception because it wasn’t clear Tate had become a runner as he crossed into the end zone.
Three points here. First, the NFL’s catch rules have sailed straight past unusual and deep into the realm of the absurd. Because breaking the plane [of the end zone] does not apply until you become a runner… Blandino asserts that this is a different situation than the infamous Calvin Johnson and Dez Bryant catches that were ruled incomplete due to the fact that they did not maintain possession and complete a football move as they went to the ground. Two feet down. Possession of the ball.
“In the end zone, once you have the completed catch, it’s a touchdown”.
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This is yet another reminder that the rules regarding a catch in the National Football League are basically just a jumble of words on a page that are open to interpretation.
