Calvin Johnson's 'catch' Vs Bears

[benravens1]

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d81a77070/Controversial-call-on-Megatron-non-TD?module=HP_headlines


i've got to say i think its a TD he gets both feet and even his knees down in control of the ball.

what do you think?

[1/28/01]

[quote name='benravens1' timestamp='1284331076' post='472886']
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d81a77070/Controversial-call-on-Megatron-non-TD?module=HP_headlines


i've got to say i think its a TD he gets both feet and even his knees down in control of the ball.

what do you think?
[/quote]
As they said, it was called by the book, but is BS in my opinion.

[benravens1]

yeah, especially given the situation. if it had been called a TD i doubt the bears would have been complaining about the call

[Shawn`]

Can't really blame the refs for this one, it's the technicalities of how the rule is written in the book, they were just following that.

If it were up to me, yeah, Detroit won that game.

[Twoo]

Absolute BS. He had possession, 2 feet down- then dove, put the ball on the ground with 1 hand and let go of the ball. Thats a td all day long.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='Twoo' timestamp='1284331614' post='472905']
Absolute BS. He had possession, 2 feet down- then dove, put the ball on the ground with 1 hand and let go of the ball. Thats a td all day long.
[/quote]
Except, its technically not....

[JohnJohnson]

Pretty terrible...players need to just be cautious in the end zone, don't try to show off or look nonchalant like Calvin Johnson tried to do.

[JO_75]

If that is not a TD than neither is Santonio Holmes catch in SB 43, Holmes catch against Baltimore in 2008, neither is Favre's last second heroics against the 49ers last year, I can keep going on & on here.

The Lions were screwed and every fan knows it. I don't care what the "rule" says, 2 feet were in, he had possession of the ball therefore TOUCHDOWN LIONS!

What SHOULD have been:

21-19

Lions 1-0
Bears 0-1

What Happened:

Bears 19-14

Bears *1-0
Lions 0-1

* = Refs handed Bears The Game.

[Shammy]

the play crossed the plane ! lol

[Wacko4Zacko]

He got robbed.

[PuRock]

Costas just did a good analysis of it. The rule was upheld correctly. But was it right? The rule might be there but the play should've been a TD. A rule they should probably revisit.

[berad]

Yeah, definitely a rule they should change..

Literally every part of his body touched the ground [i](in-bounds)[/i] before he put the ball down. Calvin Johnson is a big dude, I have no doubt he can palm a football.

That said, the refs did they're job and made the right call - even if I don't agree with it.

[FlaccoFlicker]

it's a long shot but seriously,what if Detroit finishes 9-7,and one more win coulda got them a playoff spot.Week 1 costs them a playoff spot,just a what if? but you never know

[AsianRice]

Calvin Johnson is the beast reciever in the league. Too bad he has no good QB throwing balls to him.

Back to the topic, the rule in the endzone needs to be amended. It's clearly a TD, imo.

[berad]

[quote name='FlaccoFlicker' timestamp='1284344108' post='473196']
it's a long shot but seriously,what if Detroit finishes 9-7,and one more win coulda got them a playoff spot.Week 1 costs them a playoff spot,just a what if? but you never know
[/quote]

Yeah, you never know.. Reminds me of the Ed Hochuli mis-call a couple of years back. Except in that case, it benefited the Broncos who still missed the playoffs while the Chargers went past them LOL

[FlaccoFlicker]

we went 11-5 when we were supposed to win 5 games if lucky.The right bounce the shift of wind,whatever if this causes the Lions a playoff berth I RIOT.

[CorvusCorax]

Isn't he nicknamed Megatron?

[PuRock]

[quote name='CorvusCorax' timestamp='1284345826' post='473230']
Isn't he nicknamed Megatron?
[/quote]

Yep.

[CorvusCorax]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1284347889' post='473253']
Yep.
[/quote]

This explains EVERYTHING.

[PuRock]

[quote name='CorvusCorax' timestamp='1284348029' post='473255']
This explains EVERYTHING.
[/quote]

Yep.

Wasn't sure if you actually wanted to know his nickname. Or if Megatron has something to do with the play itself.

[McBurks]

He got robbed of a TD and the Lions got robbed of a Win. Momentum is a huge part of a team's success in the NFL and it's going to be a tough few weeks looking forward for the Lions w/o their starting QB.

[CorvusCorax]

I thought that was his nickname.

[Alexir]

What rule did he break exactly? Because he constantly had control of the ball and if you don't call that a catch and you call the david tyree play in Giants/Pats SB a catch, then im just down right confused.

[noy]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1284351959' post='473320']
What rule did he break exactly? Because he constantly had control of the ball and if you don't call that a catch and you call the david tyree play in Giants/Pats SB a catch, then im just down right confused.
[/quote]

Tyree had control of the ball all the way down to the ground, even when he hit the ground. And his helmet acted as his other hand, in the eyes of the refs (therefore handling the ball with his head, which signals control).

Calvin dropped it once the ball hit the ground, making this rule come into effect. Such horse crap, NFL analysts were describing the play as being "correct" because Calvin should have ended up in the position to "hand the ball to the ref". Give me a break. So many double standards in the NFL, it's getting quite ridiculous.

[BrownsFan]

As others have said it was a good catch for a TD but technically the rule was followed so it was ruled "correctly." Hopefully they'll make a change to that because it sucks for Detroit in this case.

[ravens13]

This is the relevant text from the rulebook:

"If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete."

I know I am going against every NFL referee and commentator on this one, but they are all wrong. The way the play was ruled is not what the text says. Once a receiver has possession of the ball and has two feet touch the ground in-bounds then the catch is complete. Since he was in the endzone when this happened and was not then going to the ground, the play is over. Even if Johnson's "go[ing] to the ground" was "in the act of catching the pass" he clearly maintained control of the ball while rolling on the ground and clearly had control of the ball with his knee on the ground. The play is now over (again). Then he drops the ball. How his being on the ground with his knee down while clearly possessing the ball does not constitute "maintain[ing] control of the ball after ... touch[ing] the ground" I will never know.

People are screaming for a rule change, but in my opinion the rule is fine. The ruling was simply not what the text says and apparently has been ruled incorrectly for years. The ruling was not correct intuitively or technically (although I agree that technically is all that matters).

[JO_75]

[quote name='ravens13' timestamp='1284389406' post='473536']
This is the relevant text from the rulebook:

"If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete."

I know I am going against every NFL referee and commentator on this one, but they are all wrong. The way the play was ruled is not what the text says. Once a receiver has possession of the ball and has two feet touch the ground in-bounds then the catch is complete. Since he was in the endzone when this happened and was not then going to the ground, the play is over. Even if Johnson's "go[ing] to the ground" was "in the act of catching the pass" he clearly maintained control of the ball while rolling on the ground and clearly had control of the ball with his knee on the ground. The play is now over (again). Then he drops the ball. How his being on the ground with his knee down while clearly possessing the ball does not constitute "maintain[ing] control of the ball after ... touch[ing] the ground" I will never know.

People are screaming for a rule change, but in my opinion the rule is fine. The ruling was simply not what the text says and apparently has been ruled incorrectly for years. The ruling was not correct intuitively or technically (although I agree that technically is all that matters).
[/quote]

Now the other thing that gets me is if you watch the play, the ref that was at the end zone when Calvin caught it, ruled a TD and some ref who was ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FIELD came in and said no he didn't get the TD. How would he know if Calvin had it if he is on the other side of the field. I think yes the refs just went by what the rule said but at the same time I think the NFL has to allow the refs to make his own judgment regardless of the rule.

Now I'm not saying refs should just avoid the rules and call the game their way but what I'm saying is that if I'm the ref who saw Calvin catch the ball, I'm calling it a TD, regardless what the rules say because Calvin had both feet in and had full possession of the ball. If someone tried to tell me different I would say I'll review it but I'm not changing the call.

[JO_75]

Not sure if anyone saw Total Access where Bill Polian talked about the Calvin Johnson TD. I didn't but PFT has an article up summarizing what he thought about it and claimed "not alot of confusion" on the rule. Do you agree with him or not?

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/09/15/bill-polian-claims-not-a-lot-of-confusion-on-calvin-johnson-rule/

[quote]"For those of us who know the rule, there's not a lot of confusion," Polian said."In making rules we make on-field officiating the number one criteria," Polian said. "Replay rarely if ever enters into the situation."

Polian said that the coaching point for receivers is, "Show me the ball" -- don't just put the ball on the ground as Johnson did, but hold the ball up and show the official that you caught it.

And, ultimately, Polian said it was Johnson's mistake to put the ball on the ground, rather than keep it in his hands and show the officials that he had it. Polian said it's on the receivers to demonstrate to the officials that they've completed a catch, and not on the NFL to change the rule.

Asked whether the rule will be changed, Polian answered that other competition committee members might want to discuss it but said, "I, for one, don't see any difficulty with it."[/quote]

So does anyone agree with what he said?

My Take: Bill Polian will take this stance now saying the rule is ok and there is no problem but as soon as this rule effects the Colts in anyway possible and costs his team a win, he'll quickly petition to the league saying change the rule.

You know how I know that will happen.... Carson Palmer suffered a same hit and injury that happened to Tom Brady back in 2005, they didn't make a rule change. Fast Forward to 2008, Tom Brady gets hit and all of a sudden there is a rule change all because the injury happened to Tom Brady. Nothing happened when Palmer got hurt, so why did the NFL make it seem like Brady's hit was more worse that they had to make a rule change. Once this happens to a team like the Patriots/Colts or any other high profile team, that's when the rule will be changed, they won't change it since it's Calvin Johnson and he plays on the Lions, but if it happens to Wes Welker and cost the Patriots a game, or Reggie Wayne and cost the Colts a game.... that's when the rule will finally change.

[Dan The Man Ravens #1 Fan]

This is a matter of interpretation. You can say it was by the book but I disagree. I have looked at this so many times. My opinion, for what its worth, is he made the catch, showed that he had full control, and had his entire body in the endzone. I think he lost the ball when he rolled over and placed his hand on the ground, which had the ball in it, only to get up and procede to celebrate. I guess he would have been better off laying on the ground for an extra second or two before he got up. What a joke. Not only a joke but it cost me a win on my BR.Pick m.

[JonM229]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1284331342' post='472896']
As they said, it was called by the book, but is BS in my opinion.
[/quote]

Basically this. Good call, bad rule