The league office continues to apply its own interpretation to the catch rule. One which focuses exclusively on the third step in the process of completing the catch being the receiver getting a third foot down.
In his weekly blink-and-you-missed-it visit to NFL Network’s four-hour pregame show, league officiating spokesman Walt Anderson discussed a pair of plays from the Packers-Bears playoff game that involved the third act of catching a pass. As to both of them, Anderson made it clear that, for the folks who run the replay process, the third step is the end-all, be-all to satisfying the final element.
For the third-quarter, third-down catch by tight end Cole Kmet that was fumbled and recovered by the Bears for what would have been a first down, Anderson focused solely on whether Kmet had gotten a third step down before the ball came out.
But the rule (as explained after last month’s erroneous decision to overturn a touchdown catch by Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely) allows the process to be completed without a third step hitting the ground.
From the official rulebook, Rule 8, Article 1, Section 3: “A forward pass is complete (by the offense) or intercepted (by the defense) in the field of play, at the sideline, or in the end zone if a player, who is inbounds: (a) secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and (b) touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and (c) after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, clearly performs any act common to the game (e.g., extend the ball forward, take an additional step, tuck the ball away and turn upfield, or avoid or ward off an opponent), or he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so.”
It’s as obvious as it can be. Taking a third step is just one way to complete the process. Kmet tucked the ball away and turned upfield. More importantly, it’s impossible to find “clear and obvious” evidence that the ruling on the field that Kmet had done so was incorrect.
As a source with direct knowledge of the intended application of the catch rule explained it to PFT in the aftermath of the Likely ruling, “The catch rule now has become more about counting feet than anything else, which isn’t good.”
The same thing happened later, when Bears tight end Colston Loveland caught a pass, tucked the ball, turned upfield, and the ball was knocked out. While the ruling on the field was that the pass incomplete — and there likely wasn’t clear and obvious evidence the ruling was wrong — Anderson clung to the third-step explanation, ignoring the fact that Loveland had tucked the ball away and turned upfield.
The bottom line is that the NFL, through the replay process, continues to apply its own interpretation to the rules, ignoring the fact that the relevant language lists multiple ways to complete the process of catching a pass.
For the balance of the postseason, we can only assume that only a third step will matter. For the offseason, it’ll be for the 32 owners to decide whether to change the rules to fit the application — or whether to tell the league office to start applying the current rule as it’s written.
