The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not holding on to ball was costly for Steelers, Raiders
Late-game rulings could have big impact on playoffs.
A run is a run, a basket is a basket and a goal is a goal.
In the NFL, a catch isn’t necessarily a catch, and a touchdown isn’t always a touchdown.
A runner can inch the nose of the football over the goal line and even if it’s subsequently batted away, it’s a touchdown.
Cue the celebration. A receiver can cross the goal line, get up and spike the ball. But if the football shifted just a hair as he hits the ground, it’s just as if the pass went right through his hands.
So, that apparent Jesse James TD grab that capped a two-play, 79-yard drive in 24 seconds to upend the Patriots and put the Steelers on the inside track to homefield advantage through the AFC playoffs?
Right, just a mirage. “People are saying a runner breaking the plane causes the ball to become dead ... which is true,” tweeted Mike Pereria, a former head of NFL officials. “BUT the receiver does not become a runner until he completes the process of the catch. TOTALLY DIFFERENT.”
Whether or not it passes the eye test, James didn’t pass the NFL’s “bright line,” as fellow former NFL head official Dean Blandino pointed out.
“If you are going to the ground to make the catch, you have to hold onto the ball when you land,” Blandino tweeted. “He isn’t a runner until he completes the catch, so goal line is not a factor. It’s an incomplete pass.”
James’ touchdown was overturned and the Patriots didn’t fall for Ben Roethlisberger’s fake spike two plays later, intercepting his pass into the end zone to seal their 27-24 win, putting New England in the driver’s seat for the AFC’s top playoff seed.
“As ( James) hit the ground, the ball began to roll and rotate, and the ball hit the ground,” referee Tony Corrente said afterward. “That’s the end of it at that point.”
The Oakland Raiders saw their postseason party invite all but rescinded with a 20-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, who kept their playoff hopes alive by the slimmest of margins.
Dak Prescott converted a fourth-down sneak by the width of an index card to set up Dan Bailey’s go-ahead field goal. Then Derek Carr fumbled the ball inches from the goal line with 31 seconds left when he reached for the pylon and lost his grip on both the football and the Raiders’ season.
“We made it by the thickness of the card,” said Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, who decided to go on fourthand-1 from his 39 with about five minutes left in a tie game.
“The final decision was made visually. The card was used nothing more than a reaffirmation of what was visually done,” referee Gene Steratore told a pool reporter.