Okay, Was Dez Bryant's Catch A Legal Catch?

[Greg Ambrosius]

First of all, let me say that this was one of the best weekends of NFL playoff football that I can ever remember. From the first drive of the Baltimore-New England game to the final drive stop of the Broncos by the Colts, it was just a fantastic weekend of intense football. Unbelievable action for NFL fans.

I was lucky enough to be at Lambeau Field yesterday for the Cowboys-Packers game and in fact my seats are right in that corner of the end zone where Dez Bryant made the big play with four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. With a fourth and two and the Cowboys really draining the clock, I thought for sure that they'd hit Witten across the middle for another first down and take that clock down to under two minutes if they scored. The Packers probably thought the same thing, so they came with an all-out blitz on 4th and 2.

Tony Romo saw Dez one-on-one with Sam Shields right away and threw a perfect pass. From my vantage point, I thought Shields was playing it perfectly and while he squeezed Dez to the sideline he even turned around and made a great play on the ball. But Dez just seemed to soar over him and when he came down with the ball you just had to give him his props. That was one helluva play all the way around and a great throw and a great read by Romo. I mean, that's football and sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other guys.

My first thought was that at least it was at the 1 and if they score and even go for two points there's plenty of time left for the Packers to at least tie the game or go ahead. I didn't see the bobble by Dez and even when they showed it on the scoreboard I was happy with the challenge flag but didn't expect it to be overturned. Then I remembered watching that Calvin Johnson play in Week 1 of 2010 and couldn't believe that wasn't a catch. I said this play isn't any different than that one, but I still didn't expect them to overturn it. It sure looked like Dez took 2 or 3 steps after he secured the ball before he hit the ground, but you can always hope. And man, were we all shocked when they overturned it.

That being said, the Packers still picked up two big third downs after that play and the Cowboys couldn't stop the clock. The way Rodgers was moving the ball around in that spread offense, I'm confident that they could have scored had the Cowboys scored before then, but we'll never know. The call was made and now this game will be known as The Reversal Game.

Okay, what are your thoughts on this play? Was it a legal catch according to the current NFL rules? Or was this correctly overturned, but the rule needs to be changed? Let's see what you think.

I sure hope they don't change this rule just because the Cowboys were involved. I mean, 4 years ago in Week 1 this affected the Lions and this hasn't been brought up by the Rules Committee once since then. Now we finally realize it's a stupid rule when Calvin's touchdown catch was even more obvious that it was a catch? No. They should have changed it four years ago and to change it now just proves that it's because it was the Cowboys. They should have changed this immediately after that Calvin catch.

I know it was a catch because I saw it first-hand, but the NFL says otherwise. What do you say?

And kudos to the Cowboys' fans who came to Lambeau yesterday. They really supported their team and were good sports afterwards. Several of them said it was a hell of an experience and they got the call the week before. Most of them were just very cool and supportive of their team. But they hated that call.

Anyone else go to a game this weekend? Which one and how was the atmosphere in the stadium. Lambeau had almost 80,000 on Sunday to set a new stadium attendance record and I've never seen it more electric. Great atmosphere. How was it where you were?

[Tom Kessenich]

Looked like a catch to me. Looked like he caught the ball, took 2-3 steps and lunged toward the EZ. Not only is it a horrible rule but I'm not convinced there was indisputable evidence to overturn it on the field or say with 100% certainty the final call was the proper one.

And I'm a Packers fan.

Really sucks that a great game between two evenly matched teams had to be impacted like this. According to ESPN Stats and Info, Dallas' win probability would've been between 45% and 55% had the call stood and dropped to under 15% afterwards.

Some have said the Murray fumble was a bigger play in the game but I disagree. No doubt that was huge since Murray easily could've scored but Dallas still had the lead when the Packers could only turn that TO into a FG. Here the Cowboys went from potentially being ahead (almost a virtual certainty they would score from the 1) to having to rely on a defense that hadn't forced a single punt in the entire second half. Once the Dez Call was made the game was essentially over.

[chriseibl]

My understanding of the rule was that you need to make a football move and if you make a football move first, it's okay that the ground pops the ball loose. My understanding of replay is that you need indisputable evidence to overturn a call.

So you would need to say that Dez's lunge to the goal line was indisputably NOT a lunge to overturn the call. Given that we are disputing it, I don't see how that's the case. If it was called incomplete, you couldn't indisputably say he lunged either. In either case, I would think the call on the field would have to stand.

My understanding of the rule could be wrong, I just constantly heard "football move" was why Calvin's was overturned, so I assumed a lunge towards the end zone would be considered a football move.

[Tom Kessenich]

That's my feeling too Chris. I don't see how taking two steps and then lunging toward the end zone while clearly in possession of the ball would not constitute a football move. What else could it possibly be?

[TR]

That being said, the Packers still picked up two big third downs after that play and the Cowboys couldn't stop the clock. The way Rodgers was moving the ball around in that spread offense, I'm confident that they could have scored had the Cowboys scored before then, but we'll never know. The call was made and now this game will be known as The Reversal Game.

This game will be known as The Karma Game to me...I love that it was the Calvin Johnson rule that did Dez in

[BigBlueNation]

NO

[Sideline Sage]

As soon as I saw the catch, I immediately thought it could get overturned, well before the red flag was thrown. He didn't secure it thru the ground. It's a ridiculous rule to make ref's calls easier and more defined. However, when I saw the replay, I thought he made enough of a football move. Geez, he was reaching to try to score. I thought that was enough to not overturn a call, especially since all year, the NFL has said they needed indisputable evidence to overturn a call.

It sure would have made the game more interesting, to see if Rodgers could drive down the field to win. And some of my plaoff contests are done since I had Dallas getting past the Pack.

[Sandman62]

Interestingly, what if Dez had NOT lunged for the end zone? Wouldn't it have been 1st and goal? I get it that great players attempt to make great plays. But if instead of lunging for a potential TD - and taking the risk of losing the ball - had he just covered up and secured the ball and taken whatever punishment the ground would have given him, might this not have mattered?

[Tom Kessenich]

Interestingly, what if Dez had NOT lunged for the end zone? Wouldn't it have been 1st and goal? I get it that great players attempt to make great plays. But if instead of lunging for a potential TD - and taking the risk of losing the ball - had he just covered up and secured the ball and taken whatever punishment the ground would have given him, might this not have mattered?

Possibly not but I can't penalize Dez for trying to score the go-ahead TD. There may not be five people on the planet who could make that play. The catch by itself was sensational. Shields was right there with the coverage but Dez was just too big, strong and talented so perfect coverage didn't matter. But to have the wherewithall to then lunge for the end zone to try and score was impressive too.

[chriseibl]

I'm asking this for my understanding (not to make a statement, I really didn't care who won) but I keep hearing that making a football move before the ball hits the ground makes it an okay catch. A lunge towards the end zone seems to indisputably be a football move. Whether or not what Dez did was a lunge towards the end zone IS certainly disputable... but we all know you need indisputable evidence to overturn a call, not disputable evidence.

It seems to be commonly accepted by the media that it was called correctly "by the letter of the law"... but I'm really not following how they get there based on my understanding of the rules. If Dez's lunge was even disputably a football play (even if it's uncertain), I don't understand why the catch was overturned since an act common to the game was made before the ball hit the ground.