For a moment last Sunday, it looked like the Patriots were going to be trailing the Steelers in the final seconds of the fourth quarter when Steelers tight end Jesse James was ruled to have scored on a 10-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger.
Replays showed that the ball came out when James hit the ground while reaching over the goal line, however, and the call was overturned to an incomplete pass. That ruling has been met with criticism from those who believe James had already completed the catch and it’s spurred calls to take another look at the rule this offseason.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked about his thoughts on the rule during a Tuesday conference call.
“Well, I think that’s really a conversation for people like [NFL senior vice president of officiating] Al [Riveron] and the league and so forth. But, there’s always been a philosophy in the league and it’s gone back several decades of philosophically whether you want to have a catch and a fumble or an incomplete pass, and the philosophy has always been incomplete pass. Otherwise, you’d have a million catches and fumbles. I agree with that. The catch in the end zone is very clearly stated, so you’ve got to complete a catch. It’s pretty clear. Whether there’s a better way to do that, I don’t know. It’s a tough rule. It’s a bang-bang play. It could go either way, so I think you have to have a philosophy and whatever philosophy you have then there will be people on the other side with a different philosophy and then it really gets back into that whole discussion. I think if you’ve got a better way to do it, suggest it and let somebody take a look at it and we’ll talk about it. I don’t know.”
Belichick was also asked about whether he has a rule that players should not try to extend the ball over the goal line, something that’s reportedly the case unless it’s the final play of a game or fourth down. He said they talk about it along with all other situations, but didn’t outline what he tells his players.
The rules governing what makes a catch have been debated many times in recent years and the wording of the rules have been tweaked here and there, so there may be some movement this offseason. As Belichick said, however, what works for some doesn’t work for others so total consensus will likely remain out of reach.