percyhoward
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He had the same explanation for the Bryant play as he did for the Johnson play (falling reach = catch), then changed it the next day (gather and lunge = catch).No, I’m saying Dez DID have a second foot down before he reached, that’s my point. He took three steps before he reached. In the video Mr_C provided, Blandino said had Calvin Johnson got both feet down prior to the reach for the endzone it would have been a completed pass. Dez got both feet down prior to reaching for the end zone but his was ruled incomplete. Blandino provided a second set of eyes on that play.
Blandino had different explanations for all these rulings. What’s been perfectly clear is that when a receiver was going to the ground during the catch process and lost the ball when contacting the ground everyone of those plays were ruled incomplete regardless if the receiver got both feet down.
The Thomas play you've been talking about is an example of a receiver making a falling reach, then losing the ball and it's ruled a catch. The Cruz play from 2013 (below) is another one (Go to :23). In both cases, the player established himself as a runner by completing the catch process with a reach. So even though he was falling, and even though he lost the ball when he hit the ground, the fact he was considered a runner (not a receiver) meant he didn't have to survive the ground.