Danno

NFL Videos: Saints vs. Titans highlights


45 second mark

Toe touches OB before knee comes down.

Out Of Bounds, clearly.

RaginCajun83

With my bad eyes, it sure looked like the heel and knee were down before the toe with out of bounds ..... thought 1 knee = 2 feet, when was that rule changed?

Danno

Really? You thought the knee was down?

Look at the replay before the toe shot. His knee was down after the toe touches OB.

skymike

Im going to have to second this, as much as I hate to. A great catch, great body
control, and, of course, he's a Saint, and I cant stand to admit it, but for that teeny, tiny, microbial, molecular, foreskin of an amoeba point, the outer electrons of his cleat, did make casual contact with the neutrons of a grain of chalk-- though we have no proof that there was penetration of their atomic fields.

The screen shot (and thanks to the poster who put it up.) is of Graham after his toe apparently touched the microscopic point of the out-of-bounds. Its after. It did touch, sorta. Its not a catch. Also,
the serious answer to this is: The replay could not provide conclusive evidence to disprove the call.

The stupid thing is, if he could have flipped his body, held the ball over the "plane," and then his whole body lands out of bounds--- thats a touchdown. The "plane" of the endzone goes on for infinity, but out of bounds only applies to the physical flat surface. Except on the West Coast where you'll get your local news.

Someday, somebody is going to lose a Super Bowl on "theory."

Are we doing too much thinking here?

This game was an officials nightmare. This call was microscopic, as was the Tracy Porter-induced fumble. Porter hit the QB the exact moment his throwing motion began, right down the line. If that play had a rectum, the correct call would have gave it a colonoscopy. It was right down dead magnetic north center. A survey crew from the USGS wouldnt know what to call it.

I think the officials do a good job in real time.

I think we should just go to Backyard Rules:
1. If you have the ball, you caught it.
2. If somebody else has the ball, its a fumble.
3. Out of bounds is in your mind. Basically, you have to stop, and declare yourself out of bounds for you to be out of bounds. Out of bounds is more a sancturary for your protection, than an enforced boundry. Out of bounds is usually defined, as "past the tree." Many home stadiums have only one Out of Bounds. The other side is a fence or a ditch.
4. A touchdown is when you run past the other tree. (or post, or bumper, or if you're really poor-- a shoe.) There's no "plane," and there are no Fleur De Leaps. You have to get your whole body into the mutually agreed endzone. However there is no backline. You can run as far as you want to catch a touchdown, so long as you dont breach the Out of Bounds Tree, or run into the ditch.
5. Best of all, There is no Replay. Seriously, I hate replay. Replay will disappoint you as much as it will right injustices. #1, it holds up the game, and disrupts not only the teams tempo, but also the whole event. This, and SpongeBob, is why American kids are getting into soccer. Football requires too much attention span now. Call it on the field, quit crying, and line up for the kick. Play freakin ball!

In backyard ball, Graham's catch is a touchdown. No questions. He scores, we high five, and the Titans shut up and walk to receive the kick at the wrong side of the field, while the Saints kick out of their endzone, or throw it up really high and pretend its a kick.

RednibKram

From the NFL Rulebook: A forward pass is complete when a receiver clearly possesses the pass and touches the ground with both feet inbounds while in possession of the ball. If a receiver would have landed inbounds with both feet but is carried or pushed out of bounds while maintaining possession of the ball, pass is complete at the out-of-bounds spot. By this very definition, his catch should have been ruled a touchdown as his heal clearly came down inbounds and only due to his forward momentum from being pushed by the defender did his "cleat - and only his cleat" manage to touch a blade of white grass. Saints should protest this call and claim the extra 7 points they were cheated out of!

RaginCajun83

Rule 4 fits how we used to play football but we would use the end of the near by basketball court as the endzone line

skymike

deleting this.

Mardigras9

The problem was it was called out on the field. If it was called a TD on the field and the Titans challenged, then it probably stays a TD. It was close anyway you look at it, too close to be overturned either way.

pherein

Seahawks lost a super bowl over bad refs, they recanted on their ruling later
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5444048

Saint_LB

When the guys tap their toes on the sideline, if the rest of their foot came down it would be in bounds, too.

If a guy was facing the field and he caught the ball on his tippie-toes, and then his heel came down afterwards out of bounds...it would be called OB.

It is kinda like the continuation play when a guy catches the ball and is on his way down. He has to maintain control all the way to the ground.

When a guy catches a ball near the sideline and makes an effort to keep his feet in bounds, he has to maintain that. If his heel comes down first in bounds but the continuation of that has the toe coming down out, then he is out.

I think that if Graham would have been able to keep his toe in the air then he would've been OK...and he came within a blade of grass from doing that.

It is all getting very confusing, though. It seems like they are replaying more and more stuff as time goes on. Getting to be like rocket surgery.

Whether you think you can or think you can't...you're right!