Playing Monday Morning Quarterback has been replaced by playing Monday Morning Replay Official in an NFL that continues to have stupid rules enforced by a terrible replay system that is sucking the joy out of watching football.
Most of us learned what a catch was when we were 8 or 9 years old playing football in the backyard. If you lose the ball when you hit the ground, no catch. If you maintain control, even if it moves a little when you hit the ground, it’s a catch.
But we saw again Sunday with the Steelers getting robbed by referee Tony Corrente and NFL vice president of officiating Alberto Riveron that what we knew as children has been muddied by the adults in charge of a league that is becoming increasingly difficult to watch.
Instead of football fans talking about what a great game Patriots-Steelers was Sunday, we are discussing what “surviving the ground” means.
Skydivers should “survive the ground,” not tight ends.
Jesse James’ would-be touchdown late in the fourth quarter would have given the Steelers a win and a leg up on home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs. Now, since James’ touchdown was overturned, the road to the Super Bowl is going to go through Foxborough, Mass., and Gillette Stadium, where the Steelers lost last year’s AFC Championship Game.
So the decision to overturn the James touchdown now has completely altered the playoff landscape. Think that’s overstated? Consider the Patriots are 16-3 at home in the playoffs since 2003 and 2-4 on the road.
There are two issues the NFL has to address this offseason that popped up again on Sunday with this ruling: the catch rule and how replay is deployed.
Jets fans are all too familiar with both of these issues after watching Austin Seferian-Jenkins get robbed twice this season on calls in the end zone.
Starting with the catch rule, players have to be given some leeway for hitting the ground. The ball is going to move slightly when there is impact with the ground. The question should be whether the ball pops free and hits the ground, not whether it moves a little. You can still have possession of the ball while it moves in your hands.
Riveron said James lost control of the ball.
“James is going to the ground as he reaches the goal line,” Riveron said in a video released by the league. “And that’s the key here: He is going to the ground. By rule to complete the process of the catch, he must survive the ground and by that he must maintain control of the football. As we see here, he does put the ball over the goal line extended. Once he gets there, he loses control of the football and then the ball hits the ground. We can see here the ball touches the ground. So, therefore, two things occur: He loses control of the football and the ball touches the ground prior to him re-gaining control. Therefore, the ruling on the field of a touchdown was changed to an incomplete pass.”
Here is where the replay issue comes in. Was it definitive that the ball hit the ground? You can’t see where James’ right hand is in the replays I saw. It could have still been under the ball and then it would not have hit. Replays should be definitive. This was not. Even the announcers calling the game thought it was a touchdown.