I think they blew this call by the rules. There are a few things at play including the ball touching the ground, when something is ruled a catch, and when it would be ruled incomplete.
Touching the ground: The ball can touch the ground as long as the receiver maintains control of the ball when it touches the ground. This absolutely happened on that play. The ball hitting the ground absolutely did not cause the ball to dislodge.
Ruling something a catch: The receiver is not down and something is not ruled a catch until / unless he maintains control of the catch through his own body hitting the ground. That did not happen here, so the receiver could not be considered down after making a catch.
In this case, the receiver controlled the ball while the ball was touching the ground. From my view, he actually pulled the ball off of the ground for a split second before his shoulder hit the ground. At this point, it was still a potential catch and a live play with the ball no longer touching the ground. Then his shoulder hit the ground, which is what caused the ball to dislodge from his hands. There is a lot happening back to back on the play, but I hate that this was overturned with indisputable evidence, because I don't think that existed at all on the play.
Touching the ground: The ball can touch the ground as long as the receiver maintains control of the ball when it touches the ground. This absolutely happened on that play. The ball hitting the ground absolutely did not cause the ball to dislodge.
Ruling something a catch: The receiver is not down and something is not ruled a catch until / unless he maintains control of the catch through his own body hitting the ground. That did not happen here, so the receiver could not be considered down after making a catch.
In this case, the receiver controlled the ball while the ball was touching the ground. From my view, he actually pulled the ball off of the ground for a split second before his shoulder hit the ground. At this point, it was still a potential catch and a live play with the ball no longer touching the ground. Then his shoulder hit the ground, which is what caused the ball to dislodge from his hands. There is a lot happening back to back on the play, but I hate that this was overturned with indisputable evidence, because I don't think that existed at all on the play.
