Earl's interception. Tapping the ball on the ground...

Rewatching the game now. After picking off the ball, ET3 clearly taps the ball on the ground before getting up to run. Does anyone know if that should've ended the play at that point? I realize it wasn't noticed by the refs OR the announcers so the play wasn't blown dead anyway, but I wonder if there's any rule regarding that?

He clearly completed the catch before that, so maybe it doesn't matter anyway.

gargantual":1hisb9pc said:

Rewatching the game now. After picking off the ball, ET3 clearly taps the ball on the ground before getting up to run. Does anyone know if that should've ended the play at that point? I realize it wasn't noticed by the refs OR the announcers so the the wasn't blown dead anyway, but I wonder if there's any rule regarding that?

He clearly completed the catch before that, so maybe it doesn't matter anyway.

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I was worried about that being challenged and what the outcome might be. Thank goodness it didnt get that far due to turnover reviews being automatic.

If the catch is completed - it doesn't matter.

My heart was in my mouth as all the "complete the catch" rhetoric went through my head.

TDOTSEAHAWK":vxzfl420 said:

If the catch is completed - it doesn't matter.

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This. Technically I believe he can tap it on the ground and as long as the ball doesn't bobble, he's good to go.

HawkGA":28k6ackj said:

TDOTSEAHAWK":28k6ackj said:

If the catch is completed - it doesn't matter.

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This. Technically I believe he can tap it on the ground and as long as the ball doesn't bobble, he's good to go.

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Also, touching the ball to the ground does not constitute being 'down,' and Thomas hadn't been touched.

UK_Seahawk":llht1ms8 said:

My heart was in my mouth as all the "complete the catch" rhetoric went through my head.

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Same here. My girlfriend thought I was crazy for worrying about it being overturned, which made me even more worried. When the average fan thinks a call is obvious is usually when the refs reverse it.

I wondered the same thing but the commentators said nothing about it so I assumed I was making something out of nothing. Lol

The difference between this and Calvin Johnson's infamous "no catch", is that calvin let go of the ball as he was getting up.

Even when the ball touched the ground he still had possesion and was already running with it. So there was no problem.

Remember, in both the Dez and Calvin non-catch situations, they were ruled non-catches because the ground dislodged the ball. Earl clearly maintained possession throughout the play, only using his ball carrying hand to return to his feet.

They changed the rules about the ball touching the ground after a catch by Bert Emanuel of the Buccaneers that was overturned in the 1999 NFCC game. He had complete control of the ball, but the nose touched the ground, so it was overturned and called incomplete.

Now the ball is allowed to touch the ground as long as you maintain posession and the ground doesn't assist with control in any way. Calvin and Dez both lost control of the ball (though both had arguably made enough football moves for them to be called catches.)

The biggest difference between the Earl play and the Calvin and Dez non-catches is that Earl did not jump. "Going to the ground" applies only when you jump to catch a ball.

He had clearly showed possession of the ball before he tapped it on the ground.

Tapping it on the ground was clearly used as leverage to balance himself.

Bobblehead":lfcugag9 said:

He had clearly showed possession of the ball before he tapped it on the ground.

Tapping it on the ground was clearly used as leverage to balance himself.

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This.

He's not down unless he touches the ground with his elbow or upper arm, or the lower extremities around the knee, calf and leg above the ankle. The ball doesn't count, as was discussed above. Since it wasn't dislodged, and didn't even move in his hand, that had no bearing on the play. In this case, the ball is in the hand, and the hand touching the ground is not a down by contact event.

I had a moment there, myself, but once I thought about it, I remembered the rule.

sutz":2wxg4mpq said:

He's not down unless he touches the ground with his elbow or upper arm, or the lower extremities around the knee, calf and leg above the ankle. The ball doesn't count, as was discussed above. Since it wasn't dislodged, and didn't even move in his hand, that had no bearing on the play. In this case, the ball is in the hand, and the hand touching the ground is not a down by contact event.

I had a moment there, myself, but once I thought about it, I remembered the rule.

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And none of that counts if he's not downed by contact first.

But this is the NFL in 2015, it's all for naught if he doesn't do enough "football moves" first...

Yeah TBH I was nervous. I was telling my dad "Oh geeze you watch, that isn't going to be a pick" I was surprised that it wasn't challenged. the way the NFL has been calling incomplete/complete made me nervous on that one.

sutz":20r0a10k said:

He's not down unless he touches the ground with his elbow or upper arm, or the lower extremities around the knee, calf and leg above the ankle. The ball doesn't count, as was discussed above. Since it wasn't dislodged, and didn't even move in his hand, that had no bearing on the play. In this case, the ball is in the hand, and the hand touching the ground is not a down by contact event.

I had a moment there, myself, but once I thought about it, I remembered the rule.

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He could have log rolled 3 times, baby crawled on elbows and knees, finally capping it off with a handstand, and none of that would have mattered because no defender had made contact with him while he was in the process of going to, or on the ground.

As to him getting off the ground, spot on. If that ball would have bobbled or come dislodged in any way as he used it to help himself off the ground, it definitely could have been ruled incomplete. Never tempt fate with the referees. We've seen time and again common sense means nothing.

Off-topic-ish, that was a great return by Earl with an excellent spin move in there, if Diggs hadn't tried to rip his head off I wonder how far he'd have got? Be interesting to speculate from the All-22.

Doesn't matter anyway of course, I think Russ hit a strike to Baldwin the very next play for a TD.