Gene Steratore finally gets it right

isn't all the replay review decided by NY?

Crazy. I can see debate on the first one, but Ertz takes four frickin steps and then dives while getting tackled. I mean, should we review it when a running back takes a screen pass 20 yards and dives into the end zone too?

I dont think clements lost possesion of the ball he just switched hands. The Ertz td was a clear td. The review on the Ertz catch is the reason the ratings are down.

so no credit due to him on that account, but overall they did a good job of not becoming the story.

The only reason the second TD catch (Ertz) was reviewed that long was because of the Jesse James fiasco in the Pats-Steelers game. Both had a lot of similarities: player seemingly catching and making a "football move" including getting their feet down and lunging for the endzone with the ball clearly in control until it broke the plane of the endzone and hit the turf, coming loose in both cases.

In my opinion, both should be TDs in a world where the asinine catch rule isn't enforced via "The Process."  But tonight, Ertz at least had a claim of those full striding steps post-catch before lunging, whereas James reached over his head to grab the ball, brought the ball down, turned, and lunged with the ball outstretched all in one more or less smooth motion.

The easiest thing to do over the off-season is for the competition committee to adopt the college catch rule: yes, you must maintain possession if you're going to the ground when making the catch, but a "second act" (such as having the ball clearly under control and stretching out for the goal line) suffices to demonstrate a catch has taken place, which is just common sense.

Patriots got called for 2 or 3 penalties all postseason long. Its a joke. Thank goodness Philly beat those cheating fucks

They weren't calling much as far as pass interference.  I guess you could say they were consistant, since they let stuff go on both teams, but there were several play that were clearly PI.

steratore had nothing to do with the reviewed calls.  those decisions are made in NY.  know the rules.

I don't think the refs did a particularly good job.

#1 Philly's 4th down TD right before halftime was an illegal formation.  If the proper call is made, Philly likely settles for a field goal, which is a net loss of 4 points.

#2 Philly clearly bobbled the ball out of the back of the endzone.  That play was 3rd and long, so once again Philly likely settles for a field goal, which is a net loss of 4 points.

The announcers weren't even sure why the Clement touchdown was a touchdown. The definition of a touchdown seems to change from week to week, and from team to team.

I also think the refs did a good job of not injecting themselves into the game. However, I think they let too much holding go.

Ertz call was right IMO, but I thought Clement's TD should have been incompletion.  Steratore had nothing to do with these decisions.

The best thing the refs/league office did was to review the plays quickly, so we didn't have a Purdue end of game situation. They were both about 90 seconds and out.

Putting a time limit on all reviews seems the best way to avoid the frame-by-frame pedantry that we saw in the Purdue game. If the refs/league office isn't sure after 90 seconds, the call stands.

When I watched it live, I didn't even think it was up for debate as to whether or not that was a TD.

Caught, took 3 full steps, planted another 2 before being tackled and crossed the line. 

I think if they would have ruled that a drop, and NE went on to win that game, the NFL could have done some irreversible damage.

I sort of like Bill Barnwell’s idea regarding what is and isn’t a catch. Convene a committee of 25 former receivers and 25 former DBs. All they do is review questionable catches. They have 60 seconds to vote yes or no. The bottom 10% or so that strays the furthest from group opinion over a season is replaced for the next season.

Yes it has its flaws but the more wording they add to the catch rule the cloudier they make it. Define it loosely and let common sense prevail.

It was nice to see common sense prevail.  It was a fantastic game, and it was decided by the players, not the refs.

The refs did their job...sad when this is noteworthy vs the norm

If that call had gone against the Eagles, and they had lost - I just don't know... We might have seen marshall law on Broad street last night.

Not important enough for its own thread. But did anyone see the ESPN coverage of the celebration “damage”. The best they got were two broken store front windows and I kid you not, a turned over potters plant. They did a legit close up on the turned over plant with the dirt spilled onto the sidewalk. Not sure if they were mocking themselves because they hoped for worse. But it is ESPN so I think they were trying to find anything to report.

I know these are rules the NFL has setup...but how in the world did the get to this point where that Touchdown is somehow a close call? That's a touchdown. If that happens in college game, no one even raises an eyebrow at it. The NFL has to fix that rule

You can't "get it right" when the NFL has completely confused what "right" even is. If he got the call right based on what the rulebook reads then the refs have been getting it wrong all year... Is that "right?" The whole situation has been handled poorly but it gives the league another way to fix games. C'est la vie.

I wouldn’t call it a great game, unless you have no interest in seeing competent def naive football.

2nd one was a touchdown.  1st one, by rule, probably should not have been.  He bobbled the ball and then didn't get two feet in.  Should have counted in college, but not NFL.