KRYK SLANTS
OPENING KICKOFF For starters: Perspective on the big news
the applicable sporting sense, simply as to “capture ... in hands, etc.” considerably more verbose. And complicated. And hated. Today maybe more than ever.
“Completing the catch to the ground” continues to be by far the most contentious qualifying words in the NFL the idea is counter-intuitive much of the time.
It means that during the process of catching a pass, if a player falls to the ground for whatever reason, he must continue to tightly secure the football in his hands or against his body, essentially until coming to rest on the ground — or “surviving the ground,” as is the now widely used phrase.
But when we see what at real-life speed appears for all the world to be a catch, instead ruled an incompletion because the NFL continues to insist on including this contentious f we don’t care which ve never heard a press box explode in outrage and anger as I as NFL writers from Western New York, South Florida and yours truly from Ontario — while Bills-Dolphins stories hours after that game had ended — couldn’t believe what we were seeing on TV.
OVERTURNED?! ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?! HOW CAN THAT NOT BE A TOUCHDOWN?!!
Yet the referee, in conjunction with the NFL’s central-replay command centre in New York, overturned what seemed a sure go-ahead scoring catch by Pittsburgh tight end Jesse
James with 28 seconds left, in the Steelers’ eventual 27-24 loss to New England. James cleanly caught the ball, fell to the ground on his knees without being touched by a defender just short of the goal line, then punctured the plane of the end zone with the ball in tight grasp, as he continued to fall forward the ground eventually lose his grip on the ball. Incomplete. York, Al Riveron, indeed interpreted the rule correctly. It’s the rule that’s bogus, not the call.
As good friend, longtime NFL watcher and former Toronto Sun sports and entertainment writer
Bill Harris always tells me, to stop defending its stupid catch rule and, instead, look at all these plays that look like touchdowns, and write a rule that makes them touchdowns.
In so doing, they’d only please everybody.
TRENDS NOT COINCIDENCES It happened again, so it probably will happen again
1. He might be an idiot on, and might be slowed by more limb injuries than a horse trader’s mule, but New England’s Rob
Gronkowski this season is proving he might be the greatest tight end in football history. He had the most Sunday’s dramatic victory at with nine catches for a career-high 168 yards, his 26th career 100-yard game, end record-holder, Tony
Gonzalez. If it weren’t for the wild and super-controversial Steelers somehow blew it, we’d all be talking about his dominating performance. Once New England got the ball at its own 23, trailing 24-19 with 2:06 left, all Gronk did was this, per the gamebook’s play-by-play log:
n 1/10 – N23 – (2:06) Brady pass incomplete short middle to Gronkowski;
n 2/10 – N23 – (2:01) Brady pass deep middle to Gronkowski for 26;
n 1/10 – N49 – (1:55) Brady pass deep middle to Gronkowski for 26;
n 1/10 – P25 – (1:09) Brady pass deep right to Gronkowski for 17;
n 1/G – P08 – (1:00) Lewis up the middle for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Two point conversion attempt: Brady pass to Gronkowski complete. NE 27, PIT 24. (0:56). 2. Tom Brady’s former backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco’s QB. If Niners