Possession (Delaney Walker Fumble)

[everlong]

Pats caught break on 49ers fumble - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

The Patriots caught a break in Sunday night's loss to the 49ers when Delanie Walker's first-quarter fumble wasn't overturned on replay.

This news comes to us this morning via the "Official Review" segment on NFL Network as NFL director of officiating Dean Blandino explained what unfolded.

"This actually never went to review," Blandino said. "The replay official [Al Jury] confirmed it upstairs without bringing the referee over. That's a mistake."

Blandino detailed that the replay official watched the replay in slow motion, not in real time, and that led to the mistake.

"We want to watch these plays at full speed and we want to get the true sense of how long the receiver has it," Blandino said. "He doesn't complete the process of the catch and that's one we want to make incomplete."

When this play didn't go to review and was upheld I was pretty surprised under the current NFL rules which I think are ridiculous both in the cases of possession and touchdowns.

Walker clearly took 3 steps before the ball was dislodged by the defender. 3 steps should with control should be possession no matter if it's a fumble or if the receiver goes out of bounds after that catch and loses it hitting the ground. The NFL wants to take judgement calls away from the refs. This is the perfect rule to do so.

The second part of that is if a player catches the ball and drives at the end zone the second he crosses the goal line that needs to be a TD and the ground should not cause an incompletions.

The competition committee again at it's best.

 

[Pujo]

Walker clearly took 3 steps before the ball was dislodged by the defender. 3 steps should with control should be possession no matter if it's a fumble or if the receiver goes out of bounds after that catch and loses it hitting the ground. The NFL wants to take judgement calls away from the refs. This is the perfect rule to do so.

The second part of that is if a player catches the ball and drives at the end zone the second he crosses the goal line that needs to be a TD and the ground should not cause an incompletions.

The competition committee again at it's best.

As for how many steps he took, I'm not sure. But I disagree with the second part of what you said. If a player makes diving catch anywhere on the field, he needs to maintain possession on his way to the ground. Breaking the plane of the end zone doesn't do you any good if you don't actually have possession of the ball.

 

[tobias funke]

The NFL wants 'bang-bang' plays to be incomplete passes, for the most part. I was also surprised it was not fully reviewed and overturned.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I felt so too. But I also felt that since the original call was a fumble, overturning it would have been hard. To my eyes it looked like an incomplete pass, tough call to make in real time though OR on replay.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Looked like he attempted a football move to me.

 

[patsfaninpa]

Looked like he attempted a football move to me.

But, the ball got knocked out before he could. It's ok to admit we caught a break.

Official Review: Delanie Walker's fumble - NFL Videos

If you want to argue the rule, that's a different matter. I feel that once a player has possession of the ball and has a foot down it's a catch. This whole football move leaves to much for interpretation.

 

[signbabybrady]

At the time I remember thinking it should be reviewed. Then I saw an in stadium replay and thought uh oh this might be overturned but then we snapped the ball and the point was mute and I have not thought of this again since.

But to give my thoughts on coming to the ground with the ball I think this is a good rule for when a player is diving or gets hit before making a football and goes to the ground. However I dont agree with it when a player has his feet fairly square on the ground and falls after making the catch as I feel this is more on the player and should be considered a fumble rather than incomplete as I kind of equate it to a player who falls on his own with possesion The only way a ground can cause a fumble.

 

[everlong]

As for how many steps he took, I'm not sure. But I disagree with the second part of what you said. If a player makes diving catch anywhere on the field, he needs to maintain possession on his way to the ground. Breaking the plane of the end zone doesn't do you any good if you don't actually have possession of the ball.

I didn't say a diving catch. I said they make a catch and then dive at the end zone. So a player catches the ball at the 5 yard line, gets two feet down and then dives at the end zone. That shows control in my mind. If he catches the ball in the air and comes down in the end zone and loses the ball I agree that's not a catch.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Very close. It was a judgement call. I would lean towards an incompletion, but it wasn't a head-scratching call, especially in real-time. That said, if this happened to the Pats and wasn't review-able, I would be furious.