12-20-2017, 09:16 PM
Here's my 2 cents....
The rulebook says that he must "maintain control until after his initial contact with the ground." Did James do that? Well here's what happened. James catches the pass, James knee hit the ground (still has control), James reaches the ball over the goalline (still has control), simultaneously James elbow hits the ground (still has control), James hands hit the ground in the end zone (he loses control). In order for the call to be correct, ALL of this has to be considered 'initial contact.' And if James were a few feet closer to the endzone when he caught it and his momentum carried the ball into the endzone, it would be correct. But the act of him deliberately reaching the ball over the goalline (a football move) makes it different and changes it. Common sense dictates that the reaching (a football move) is a separate event from his knee hitting the ground and therefore separates the initial contact from the elbow and hands hitting the ground, secondary contacts.
IMO, bad call. Now Im not blaming the loss on this, nor am I implying a conspiracy against the Steelers and for the Patriots, I just simply think that they blew the call. For what it's worth, Ed McCaffrey and Brian Billick both agree as per their discussion on Sirius NFL Radio yesterday morning (I actually hijacked this from Ed. It's his opinion and I agree).
The rulebook says that he must "maintain control until after his initial contact with the ground." Did James do that? Well here's what happened. James catches the pass, James knee hit the ground (still has control), James reaches the ball over the goalline (still has control), simultaneously James elbow hits the ground (still has control), James hands hit the ground in the end zone (he loses control). In order for the call to be correct, ALL of this has to be considered 'initial contact.' And if James were a few feet closer to the endzone when he caught it and his momentum carried the ball into the endzone, it would be correct. But the act of him deliberately reaching the ball over the goalline (a football move) makes it different and changes it. Common sense dictates that the reaching (a football move) is a separate event from his knee hitting the ground and therefore separates the initial contact from the elbow and hands hitting the ground, secondary contacts.
IMO, bad call. Now Im not blaming the loss on this, nor am I implying a conspiracy against the Steelers and for the Patriots, I just simply think that they blew the call. For what it's worth, Ed McCaffrey and Brian Billick both agree as per their discussion on Sirius NFL Radio yesterday morning (I actually hijacked this from Ed. It's his opinion and I agree).
