NFL 2014 Season Thread

[-Jrabbit]

Dez Bryant now knows exactly how Megatron felt gainst the Bears about 3 years ago.

Hard to claim that's not a catch but... letter of the law.

[Ming]

Yeah... tough call. I sure thought it was a catch, but I can see why they reversed it.

[EPW]

Tough Call?? The Cowboys got royally screwed.

[Zopperoni]

I don't see the controversy. Even live, I considered it an incomplete pass. It was a great effort effort by Bryant, but it was clear that he lost control.

Meanwhile, I couldn't deny you guys this gem:

[Demonbinder]

Totally agree. Ball hit the ground as he is turning over so it is a non-catch. That has been the rule for a long time. Can't believe Jeffrey and Marshall thought it was a good catch.

[-Jrabbit]

The rule is ill-designed and poorly understood.

[MRT144]

I think this was a much easier call than Megatron

[rah]

Originally I thought it was the right call but the more I watched it, the more I could conceive that he was reaching out with the ball trying to score. If he was doing that, then it should have been a completed pass since that's considered a football move or whatever they call it.

[-Jrabbit]

The smoking gun is that "making a football move" is never really defined. There's also AFAIK no defined difference between falling, being tackled, and diving for the ground.

But if a running back does the same thing on a pitchout (not a forward pass), with the exact same sequence of moves after getting the ball, it would be no fumble/down by contact.

And demon, you should not be surprised that other WRs would think it's a catch.

[H Tower]

I thought the Patriots 4 offensive linemen on the field was more interesting than the Dez Bryant drop.

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/1/10/7526841/the-patriots-trick-play-that-got-john-harbaugh-mad-ravens

To be a legal formation, the circled player has to uneligible, while the player with the line starting from him is eligible. Deceptive? Heck yes, 100% legal? maybe not.

[Zopperoni]

It's legal, but the execution was very sneaky, because Shane Vereen declared himself ineligible last-second.

The Competition Committee will undoubtedly look at this and have a say about the moment a player declares himself ineligible, but I don't think the formation should be outlawed, because it can be categorized as an "unbalanced line".

[Zopperoni]

Originally I thought it was the right call but the more I watched it, the more I could conceive that he was reaching out with the ball trying to score. If he was doing that, then it should have been a completed pass since that's considered a football move or whatever they call it.

The divot he creates with his left foot definitely suggests that he was trying to thrust himself into the end zone. However, in assessing whether he made a football move, this situation--and you need to view it at actual speed--is similar to the "bang bang" play when assessing fumble versus incomplete pass.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Shane Vereen declared himself ineligible last-second.

No. Nor did Hoomaniwhatzit. They both went to the ref as soon as they came on the field, before lining up.

[MRT144]

You Bears fans commit suicide yet?

[rah]

No actually pleased that they got FOX. It's been awhile since we hired a head coach with actual NFL experience.
He may not be the best but the others that they were looking at didn't exactly excite me at all.