NFL '26 Divisional Round Playoff Games thread (1/17-18)
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
It was clearly a catch by Adams.
It wasn't--he bobbled it and was still pulling it into his body when his foot was no longer dragging but the call works for me.
Does it really matter whether it was a catch or not. It was ruled a catch. Calls can go both ways.
So who had possession when he hit the ground? It was not the defender. That is clear. He has his hands on the ball, I will give you that but the receiver still has the ball on his chest. Even if they both have the ball as the receiver hits the ground which is the best you can say if you are Denver then that is Buffalo's ball. Unless the rule says that if you get your hands on the ball prior to the receiver hitting the ground and then can fully rip it out after the defender is on the ground then yeah it should be awarded to Denver but I don't think you can do that.
Except his team chronically blows leads. Lucky to beat the Bears but I will take it. I hope they beat Seattle but they need to play a lot better than they did vs Da Bears.
He didn’t rip it out, it flipped up into his arms because the receiver did not have control of it. If it would have hit the ground instead of ending up in the defenders arms it would have been ruled incomplete because the receiver never had possession of it. You have to finish the catch and the receiver didn’t because it ended up in the defenders arms.
Wrong again as usual. He bobbled it initially bonus both feet were in contact with the ground when he gained possession.
The Rams were lucky to beat the Bears? Were you in the bathroom when Williams completes a desperation pass on 4th down to Kmet to tie the game with only a few seconds left in the game?
That's how you see it--which is fine. I don't believe he actually has possession until the trailing foot is off the ground but, as always, we're talking about tenths of a second
Most of sharp guys I follow have had Rams and Seahawks as 1a and 1b in power ranking for much of the season (me too). It's not a surprise that they are facing off in the CCG and the favorites to win it all. I was really hoping to get a +3 or better on the Rams vs Sea based on recency bias, but no such luck. The -2.5 for Sea is about home field advantage, so this tells me that the two teams are still about evenly rated. Don't forget that the Rams won the first meeting (I know, Sea with a ton of turnovers) and Sea was down 16 in 4Q and needed miracle 2pt conversions to win the second meeting. Sea has the obvious advantage with home field, a recent bye, and the Rams off two road wins but I'm not sure I'd call them a strong favorite.
Barnwell is always a good read. Apparently Buffalo’s Cook lead the league’s non-quarterbacks in fumbles.
www.espn.com
NFL playoffs: 11 key plays that decided the divisional round
Let's sort out Caleb Williams' wild fourth-quarter TD throw, the Broncos' controversial INT, a big Seattle kickoff return TD, a C.J. Stroud pick-six and more.
www.espn.com
The Cooks call was extremely close but probably correct. However, after seeing 5 to 10 minute reviews over basically meaningless calls early in games the official’s claim that this call wasn’t reviewed because they don’t review plays which are “obvious” because they need the move games along might be the most laughable comment I have heard from an NFL official ever and that covers a LOT of territory.
Being critical of that is fine. The booth reviews all plays in OT and didn't think it needed an additional review. Right or wrong...that was the decision
I hate to agree with you twice, but that’s how I saw it too…was bobbling it when the toe was down, but got control after the toe came up then went out of bounds. I didn’t care either way, but it didn’t look like a catch to me.
You are correct. This was a bad call and essentially cost the Bill's a win and McDermott his job.
If he doesn't have possession which is highly debatable then it is shared which goes to the receiver. The defender has his hands on the ball. You can't say he bobbled it into the defender's hand. The defender already has some possession of the ball IF you are ruling Cooks did not have full possession of the ball when he hit the ground.
This was either full possession by Cooks as he was down or a shared possession as he hit the ground. The refs were incompetent and said he was bobbling it then it was ripped away. Yet the bobble as it were was a struggle for possession (again if you look at it as best case for Denver because Cooks did have possession and not a shared but if you go with shared possession theory) thus the play is over when Cooks is down. The ref is ruling it like Cooks went down was bobbling the ball as his knee and back hit the ground and then the defender jumped in and snatched the ball before the ball hit the ground and they roll over and wa la the defender has the ball. It is not that type of play. The defender reached in and grabbed the ball before Cooks hit the ground but Cooks had the ball too so it is a shared possession. Thus the play has to be over once Cooks is down and a shared possession goes to Cooks. To me, these officials went out of their way (incorrectly and incompetently) to give the ball back to Denver.
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There is no angle showing that he bobbled it into his arms. That is made up and what the ref thought happened and then the ref was too arrogant to stop the game and review it. Cooks has possession and the "bobble" is because the defender is pulling at the ball that causes the ball to ultimately come loose. Here is the key point....at the time of Cooks hitting the ground it is either full possession by Cooks or the defender has some possession and it is shared. Either way that is the receiver's ball or possession. The defender got the ball because he got his hands in there and started pulling it out. Maybe eventually as he pulled he triggered a "bobble" but that doesn't matter because at the time Cooks hit the ground it is shared possession. Look at the photo. The defender has his hands on the ball and Cook has it on his chest. There is no bobble at that point with Cooks down. You have to rule that Cooks is down there and it is shared possession with the possession to the offense. That ref caused McDermott to get fired. McDermott should send him an invoice for the amount of money this incompetent and careless call cost him. Maybe he can sue him. Lol!