The explanations keep getting wonkier...
Mike Carey, the CBS officiating expert was on with Ben and Skin (105.3 the Fan) yesterday evening. The hosts of the show did a horrible job questioning him, as they were obviously not prepared. Regardless, some insight was shed on the decision made by the referees and Blandino.
Carey noted that while Dez had possession, he did not complete a football move, and therefore was subject to the process rule for a catch that has now claimed the two best receivers in the NFL (Dez and Megatron). Carey’s rationale behind Dez not completing a football move was that, "he ran out of time" when reaching for the end zone. When pressed, he admitted that since Dez did not reach the end zone, he did not COMPLETE the football move.
Here is where Ben and Skin did their listeners a grave disservice. Instead of questioning if reaching for the end zone is the only football move that could be completed, they took a different line of interrogation. As Carey continued, it became evident that what occurred is that Carey, and probably Steratore and Blandino assessed the completion of a football move based on the result of reaching the end zone.
Since Dez did not accomplish this goal, he did not COMPLETE a football move, but merely started one. The reason he did not complete the football move is because he was falling and "ran out of time." Therefore, the process rule dictates that he must maintain possession throughout the process of the catch, and when the ball popped free, it was deemed an incomplete pass.
In reality, the football move is not reaching for the end zone, it is advancing the football. The goal of an offensive player is to advance a football as close to the opposing end zone as possible on every play, trying all the while to score by crossing the threshold of the end zone.
Judging Dez’s football move as "not completed" due to his failure of reaching the end zone is erroneous, as rarely does a play culminate in an actual touchdown. The majority of football moves occur prior to reaching the end zone. The act of advancing the ball towards the end zone is a football move.
As demonstrted by the video by Rathos above, Dez advanced the ball about five yards before hitting the turf. Dez indeed completed a football move by advancing the ball five yards. He did not accomplish his goal of scoring a touchdown.
When asked about Dez lunging forward and taking several steps, Carey stated that he interpreted Dez’s move forward as the result of the act of falling. In other words, the example cited by Blandino with the fumble by Bernard would not apply, as the referees do not consider falling as taking steps.
Here is where Carey should have been roasted. Carey admitted that Dez BEGAN a football move, but did not COMPLETE it. The emphasis was his.
Had the hosts been able to think on their feet (pun intended), they would have realized that Carey had just contradicted his stance on the steps being a result of the falling. Carey admitted that Dez was in fact reaching for the end zone, but did not complete the football action becuase he did not reach the line to gain. In reality, Carey (and probably Blandino and Steratore) were confusing the achievement of the goal with the process of the action.
Dez did accomplish a football move in advancing the ball. Dez did not complete his goal of scoring a touchdown because he fell short (ran out of time) of the end zone.
By interpreting a football move as solely advancing the ball roughly six yards while entangled with a cornerback, the officials are able to justify utilizing the process rule. Afterall, Dez did not complete a football move because he did not reach the end zone.
Carey outlined this quite clearly. If there is a podcast from the conversation on the 1/12/15 Ben and Skin Show with Mike Carey, I suggest you listen and realize that the interpretation of a football move outlined by Carey would be impossible to attain from anything further than five or so yards out from the line to gain.
The problem is the rule AND those interpreting the legislation. Common sense would dictate that Dez’s football move was to advance the ball, and he completed that act. At that point, the process rule is not in effect and the result of the play would result in first and goal Dallas.
By the way, Carey could not confirm that he saw the ball hit the ground. He related that he could not recall instead of standing by his initial comment that he definitively saw the ball hit the ground.
