My view is that the rules states he must control the ball to the ground. When his knee hits he is on the ground, and the catch is over. The lunge is not part of the catch and the TD was scored the second he broke the plane.
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You're basically totally correct as I understand it.
But seriously, I've been watching football seriously since the mid-50's, and that was a catch if I ever saw one. He had COMPLETE control.
“When his knee hits he is on the ground, and the catch is over. The lunge is not part of the catch and the TD was scored the second he broke the plane.”
That is wrong. First off, he had not been touched by the defense, so he was NOT down when his knee hit. But that is irrelevant to a legal catch.
When you are falling/diving on the catch, you MUST maintain possession all the way through the catch/roll/contact with the ground. He didn’t.
That rule was changed a few years ago. Dez Bryant of Dallas had a near identical type of play a few years ago.
True...except all the ball has to do is break the plane of the end zone. It appeared that is what happened here.
Item 1. Player Going to the Ground. A player is considered to be going to the ground if he does not remain upright long enough to demonstrate that he is clearly a runner. 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 until after his initial contact with 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.
https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-video-rulebook/completing-a-catch/
You’re missing three things. First, the receiver was never touched by a defensive player. So the ball was NOT dead when his knee touched the ground. Second, if you watch the video, the ball touched the ground. And as soon as that happens, it’s considered a factor in his getting control of the ball which instantly negates the catch. Third, the precedent for defining a “football move” has been to take steps while maintaining control of the ball. He took no steps after the ball contacted him. Keep in mind that this rule was set up the reduce the number of fumbles that were occurring when receivers got hit by a defender (or in this case, the ground) before the receiver could make a “football move”. That call was not confirmed by the officials on the field. It was confirmed by the NFL review team ostensibly consisting of the best officiating minds in the league. With the advent of incredibly precise and revealing video capabilities, officials are required to parse plays literally to the millisecond. As long as the rules are applied consistently, no one should have a beef.