@westside-steve said:

I guess I thought when he hit the ground he was down.

Correct-ish... he would have been "down by contact" had he maintained control though to the ground.

@skippinturtles said:

Dez had the 4th and 2 converted but he had to be the hero. There was over 4 minutes left in the game. It would have been 1st and goal if he just catches the ball. He had both hands on the ball, all he had to do was cradle it into his chest. Why risk a drop, or worse, a fumble out of the endzone. Fuck if it's a catch or not. It was a selfish bonehead play by Dez.

Give credit to Shields for getting a hand in to loosen the ball. The rest was set in motion by that effort. It prevented him from "just catching the ball."

@tour2ma said:

Yes... You do understand that ball control must be demonstrated through the receiver hitting the ground, don't you?

WSS

@masterdog said:

Take a look at the replay.

Bryant had 2 hands at the top of his jump but while pulling the ball into his body (still in the air), the defender stuck his right hand into the tip of the ball which dislodged it slightly causing the ball to rolled to Bryant's shoulder when he landed on his feet. At NO POINT was he in complete control of securing the ball . You can clearly see he attempt to secure the ball while falling forward onto the ground. That lunge could be debated as an football move, but it's irrelevant because at no point did he had total control of the ball.

If the ball was NEVER dislodged or rolled onto his shoulder, i would say that he caught it.

Slightly different take ending in the same result...

Yes, on the DB dislodging the ball. It was a good play by Shields that is going unnoticed.

However, after pinning the ball to his right shoulder with his right hand Bryant moves it to his left hand on his way to the ground.

Clearly he gains control in the grasp of his left hand prior to the ball hitting the ground.

Just as clearly the ball is dislodged by that contact, i.e., by the ground, and at that point the pass is incomplete.

@westside-steve said:

After he hit the ground?

Yes... You do understand that ball control must be demonstrated through the receiver hitting the ground, don't you?

@hoorta said:

Steve, we may not like the"Calvin Johnson Rule", but the Refs got the call right. Bryant clearly lost control of the ball after he hit the ground.

After he hit the ground?

WSS

@westside-steve said:

I would have bitched, but it was not a bad call.

Bryant had 2 hands at the top of his jump but while pulling the ball into his body (still in the air), the defender stuck his right hand into the tip of the ball which dislodged it slightly causing the ball to rolled to Bryant's shoulder when he landed on his feet. At NO POINT was he in complete control of securing the ball . You can clearly see he attempt to secure the ball while falling forward onto the ground. That lunge could be debated as an football move, but it's irrelevant because at no point did he had total control of the ball.

If the ball was NEVER dislodged or rolled onto his shoulder, i would say that he caught it.

@the-gipper said:

What I saw was Bryant using the ball to break his fall to the ground. He was NOT imo "stretching" to get the ball in the end zone. In doing so, the ball came loose and hit the ground. Bryant did not control it through the entire play, as the rule requires.

Incomplete pass.

... and he also was not lunging for the goal line. He was stumbling, off balance.

@westside-steve said:

Looked like a bad call to me. Yeah I hate the Cowboys but they was robbed. Look at that play and imagine the guy wearing an orange helmet. Come on.

Head would still overrule heart... but I'd be pissed that:

1. the WR did not keep two hands on the catch; and

2. the QB went for it all and not simply the first down... it was 4th and 2.

at least someone will be winning something big in Texas this year....

@the-gipper said:

Karlis did miss, no doubt.

I hate Dallas, but I thought that "reversal" was probably the worst reversal of a call I've ever seen. Looked like a catch, then a cradle, then an attempted extension of reaching for the goal line. Just my opinion of course.

@westside-steve said:

Steve, we may not like the"Calvin Johnson Rule", but the Refs got the call right. Bryant clearly lost control of the ball after he hit the ground.

@browns149 said:

Yes, true. Back in 1979 (I think that was the year), the AFC Championship game between the Steelers and Oilers was yet another big game where a blown call affected the outcome. Renfro, a WR on Houston, got 2 feet in on a catch in the back of the end zone- refs called him out of bounds.

1977, Oakland-Denver, a fumble by Denver's Rob Lytle was called a TD, Denver to Super Bowl.

These 2 calls in particular were the push for replay, but it didn't happen until recently. Officiating is much, much worse today as a result.

I think it's only natural officiating has gotten worse, when you are second-guessed by video all the time. If we all had that at our jobs, we'd suck too.

@why said:

WSS

@dste-ace said:

As I said in this case.....to me, Bryant extended his hand with the ball in it to break his fall to the ground. While others may protest....yes, that is exactly the Calvin Johnson rule.

@texasag1969 said:

And I am saying that I saw as much protection of Tony Romo going on.

of the game so I have little to no sympathy for this weeks debacle.

However, can we all agree that the term "football move" is about as asinine a term as has been

introduced in recent memory? FFS. the official NFL definition of "football move" includes an 'etc.'

It seems to me that as soon as the ball is snapped every player on the field is making a "football move".

@the-gipper said:

As I've stated elsewhere, not a boyz fan and no dog in this fight. Just don't like crappy non-calls on egregious holding that got worse as the game went on. I felt the refs were "protecting" a gimpy Aaron Rogers from any further injury. And the one where the defender eventually had his back to the play with an arm around his neck lifting him up and over on his back was ridiculous.

VesnaKociper said:

What I saw was Bryant using the ball to break his fall to the ground. He was NOT imo "stretching" to get the ball in the end zone. In doing so, the ball came loose and hit the ground. Bryant did not control it through the entire play, as the rule requires.

Incomplete pass.

@bob806 said:

Except, of course, they got this right....which is what they should do.

(wish we had replay back when Karlis was kicking.)