You acted like the 3 plays were all relevant to the discussion, but one is a situation where the ball never even comes loose, and another is a situation where the player isn't going to the ground at all, despite contact, and the only thing that causes him to go to the ground is a lunge at the end. Accordingly, and as I said, 8.12 is really the only thing you have that is close to an argument, and again, 8.12 actually does require the "going to the ground" to be caused by contact from an opponent, despite your claims to the contrary.
You not seeing the relevance only shows you don't know what you are talking about when it comes to interpreting rules.
There are literally thousands of possible variables that could become a case play to illustrate the catch rules. For whatever reason, the NFL only really covered 3 aspects of the rule. They had a few plays that specifically dealt with a receiver not becoming a runner while going to the ground. Some with a loss of control and one with maintained control. They had one with an element of time completing the catch process ending going to the ground, and one where an act of bracing to lunge ended the catch process to trump going to the ground. That does not mean that those are the only ways that this rule can go, it is giving examples of how to properly rule a catch and receiver to runner.
There are a few absolutes in this case:
1. The rule never explicitly stated that Item 1 takes precedence over the catch process until 2015.
2. The case book plays clearly show that a receiver can become a runner during the going to the ground process.
3. That there is no mention of upright long enough anywhere in the rules until after the Dez play occurred.
4. Blandino was a former comedian and tech guy who never was an on field official in his life.
5. Blandino is no longer the head of officiating, and Goodell has publicly addressed officiating in general, and the catch rule specifically in consecutive years.
What do these absolutes mean?
Whether the party bus and the Detroit game had an affect on the GB game is up for debate, but based on the absolutes Blandino and Steretore mistakenly overturned the catch. It does not matter if it was deliberate, sub-conscience, or a honest mistake, it was incorrect based on the 2014 rules. In 2015 the NFL created a new rule. Blandino in his PC can say what he wants about it being just a clarification, the absolutes say otherwise. Nowhere has the catch rule ever had the concept of upright long enough, never. It became a brand new rule. That is why so many did not trust Blandino and it was just not Cowboys fans. Every call that came up had a new excuse to explain it, and just like the NFL's version of discipline, there was no rhyme or reason to it. But make no mistake that 2015 change was directly tied to the Dez play, and it had nothing to do with clarification, it was a change in rule to fit the call in GB.