What is considered a catch in the NFL and what is not still remains a mystery.
Late in the second quarter of Sunday’s game between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, a wild play occured that once again had people wondering what qualifies as a catch in the NFL.
Now the Lions should be very familiar with the whole catch controversy, considering the initial fiasco of this whole “what exactly is a catch” thing started with Calvin Johnson’s clear catch was ruled incomplete after he didn’t fully complete the catch to the ground, when Johnson took two clear steps and the ball hit the ground while in possession of Johnson’s hand.
On 3rd-and-goal from the Bears’ 2-yard line, Lions receiver Golden Tate hauled in a pass at the goal line. As Tate tried to secure the ball, Chicago cornerback Kyle Fuller was able to strip it loose, with the Bears recovering in the end zone. The referees initially ruled an interception and touchback for Chicago. After a review, however, the call on the field was reversed, which gave Detroit a touchdown.It was ruled that Tate had broken the plane of the goal line before losing the football.
While Lions fans may agree with the call, Bears fans can argue Tate never actually completed the catch.
Tate’s touchdown gave the Lions a 21-13 lead with less than a minute to play in the first half.
But then again Golden Tate catches everything right…
The NFL did get together this past offseason to try and draw out exactly what qualified as “catching a football” after the huge call in the NFC Championship, infamous known as the Dez catch that never was. Looks like they’ll have to regroup this offseason as well.
