There continues to be growing evidence that the NFL needs to change its stupid going to the ground catch rule.
Over the past few years, there have been some really great catches made called back thanks to that really stupid going to the ground rule that the NFL gets hot and bothered about every time its used. In a world where defaulting footballs is a detriment to the game, we still have to deal with a rule that can take a play that clearly produces a touchdown and rule it otherwise — basically just because someone says so.
You be the judge — not that it counts though because it wasn’t ruled a touchdown and didn’t count.
This is a product of the going to the ground rule that has screwed so many receivers over the past few years. Most notably, Dez Bryant and the Dallas Cowboys had their season end on a play just like this in Green Bay last year. It’s also otherwise known as the Calvin Johnson rule, as the books state a receiver needs to have possession of the ball and it can’t touch the ground otherwise it’s an incomplete pass.
It’s a truly stupid rule, as the trap rule exists which allows the ball to hit the ground if you have control and it’s trapped. That’s a catch — where the ball actually touches the ground without having to take any steps for controlled possession — but this Bengals catch and run across the goal line isn’t.