The Refs Clearly Got The Jesse James Incomplete Pass Call Correct… It’s Not That Hard
Did Jesse James have the touchdown catch or nah? #HereWeGo #GoPatriots #NEvsPIT
— Sports Degens (@TheSportsDegens) December 18, 2017
I will never understand for the LIFE of me why people just cannot grasp this rule. It doesn’t make any sense. The rule is crystal clear but for whatever reason, every time a situation like this comes through the Twitter world people lose their God damn minds.
“Bahhhhh that was a catch! What do you mean!? He broke the plane!”
Jesus. Christ. Are we serious?
The rule is laid out.
Let’s simplify that for you guys who can’t grasp what that’s saying.
- The ball is caught by a receiver who is going to the ground.
- Once the receiver hits the ground the ball cannot move or be bobbled. It needs to clearly be in control.
- Guess what? If the ball is bobbled in any fashion… IT’S AN INCOMPLETE PASS.
Well when you put it this way I guess that makes sense doesn’t it?
Once the ball made contact with the ground and it moved you knew that thing was going to be overturned. Tony Romo knew it. And do you know what that guy doesn’t know about football? Nothing. He’s a genius.
“Oh yeah! Well what about when a running back dives in and once it breaks the plane it’s a touchdown!”
Oh… Oh shoot. I guess…
BECAUSE HE’S A RUNNER. If James became a runner on that play than yeah, it would have been a touchdown. But he never became a runner because he fell to the ground and tried to stretch into the end zone. Again, that’s another rule. There’s tons of them in the game. If I was on my phone I’d use the guy shrugging emoji right here. So just imagine that for me.
Listen, regardless of whether or not you think that rule is dumb or not, it’s the rule. Just like the ball being fumbled out of the end zone just like what happened to Derek Carr last night is.
Regardless of whether or not you think that ball should go back to the offense on the one or to the defense at the 20, the rule is it goes back to the defense. Point blank. There’s no debating that.
Yeah, I get it, the rule sucks. If I were a Steelers fan I’d be losing my mind too… But I’d get the rule. Maybe you can blame it on your quarterback panicking, faking a spike by accident, or not that’s a whole different story, and firing a ball into the middle of the field with seconds left on the clock.
Or maybe you can blame coach Tomlin for leaving Gronk in single coverage the entire night. Listen, I hate to act like these instructions are easy to follow. I get it, the rest of the league isn’t Bill Belichick in regards to his giant football brain. Shocked his head isn’t shaped like Arnold’s from Hey Arnold. But come on, Gronk in single coverage? That’s easy money. Two point conversion with Gronk in single coverage? My God take all of my money. All of it. I could cry it’s so easy.
Am I bitter that my fantasy team lost because I’m a garbage coach? Yeah, maybe. Carson Wentz torn ACL? Sucks. Burkhead hurt early? Sucks. Not starting Greg Olsen? Sucks. I stink. But you know who doesn’t? The Patriots.
Rule’s a rule, nerds. Deal. With. It.
Written By: Nick Quaglia (@NickQuag)