First off, this call didn’t lose the game for the Cowboys. Unless it’s the very last play of a game, I don’t think any one play loses a game for a team. The Cowboys had two chances to stop the Packers and get the ball back and they couldn’t. They also have the best line in football and the league’s leading rusher in Demarco Murray, could the Cowboys not run the ball for two yards?

Okay…did I cover all those bases? Cool. The catch was huge or non catch rather. The Cowboys would have most likely have scored and been in the lead with two to three minutes left to play. We’ve seen this controversial call before with Calvin Johnson.

Dez’s reversal was just as egregious. Here are my thoughts.

1. As humans, we just make things difficult. Why is this? I really have no clue. I’m guilty of it and more than likely you are too. Bottom line, a catch is a catch. How hard is this to comprehend? Dez Bryant caught the ball.

2. What’s making this catch so hard to comprehend is the Bert Emmanuel Rule. In the 2000 NFC Championship game between the Bucs and Rams, Bucs WR, Bert Emmanuel caught a pass. A small part of the ball touched the ground. The ball did not move and was controlled throughout the catch, but since a tiny piece touched the ground it was ruled incomplete. You can watch the play here. Either way, The Bert Emmanuel Rule was created.

Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Item 1 reads:

“If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.”

The NFL Head of Officiating, Dean Blandino, had this to say,

The referee of the game, Gene Steratore, in Sunday’s official pool report, said: “In our judgment, [Bryant] … continued to fall and never had another act common to the game.”

3. Dez took three steps. He clearly has possession of the ball. If anything, once he falls, he’s down by contact and fumbles the ball after he hits the ground.

4. The ball never touched the ground. There isn’t any evidence that shows any part of the ball touching the ground.

5. Dez handled himself very well in his postgame interview. Known for being an overly emotional hot headed player, I was pleased to see Dez handle himself with class.

6. If the ground can’t cause a fumble, how can it cause an incomplete pass?