Dez Bryant’s Catch is Already Old News

I’m sick of hearing about this catch already. We took a day on BST and @CowboysNation to get angry over it and ran into many similar responses. Most of which were from fans of other teams (most notably, the Lions), but there was one shared by head coach Jason Garrett in his post-game press conference.

“We had 3 hours and 60 minutes of football…”

Yes they did, and something like 56 minutes into the game, on 4th and 2, they made a play for the end zone.

All this talk of them having a whole game to score more points makes no sense to me. Are you trying to say that winning isn’t good enough? That it’s only a win if it’s a blowout? Because then you’d have a point. Then, that one catch wouldn’t have mattered.

If the Cowboys had scored more points early, instead of Dan Bailey missing a field goal or DeMarco Murray losing a fumble, then Dez Bryant’s fourth quarter catch wouldn’t have changed the game. It would have still been a bad call and it would have still been the referee’s interfering with the game. And it would have still been a catch. But the game wouldn’t have been won or lost by it.

And yeah, I’ve thought about it, plenty.

Dez didn’t reach the goal line – though he tried hard to reach for it – so there was no score change there. But hey, tape clearly shows the spot of the ball and I’ll take the league’s leading rusher behind the league’s most dominant offensive line for half a yard against a defense that struggled to keep him from getting at least a yard all day. Especially when it’s four-down territory.

I’ll take that because it’s solid gold, pal. No question, the ‘Boys score that touchdown in four tries or less. If Murray was stuffed, then there’s always Bryant for a back shoulder fade and Jason Witten or Cole Beasley across the middle.

That play was a game changer, and thanks to those referees and their interpretation it wasn’t the men making millions of dollars with fans and sponsors making the play, but bureaucratic pencil pushers administrating the game to a false outcome.

Going back a bit, on that 3rd and 1 when Garrett took the timeout and the spot of the ball was reviewed, that was the right call.

Two plays earlier, Witten caught a similar pass for a first down by forward progress, but both were generous spots. The first one was missed, though his butt was on the line to gain when he caught the ball and he was pushed toward the line of scrimmage immediately. But that was a spot error of around inches, no matter how obvious they were.

Then it happens again, only the spot error was by more than a yard – right about 2 actually – and deserved to be challenged and re-spotted. Garrett didn’t make a mistake, the referee’s did. They ended up getting the right call on the field and removed officiating from affecting that play beyond what the players on the field had or had not done.

Getting the call right is as much about accurate accreditation of the player’s performance as it is restricting players to a set of rules evenly and fairly so as to prevent any undue advantages in the game. That’s it.

And for the few fans I’ve heard spouting off about having 4 minutes in the game after Bryant’s catch was taken away…

If my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle.

Instead of everyone needing to blame the team for not scoring more in the game to feel better about the loss, try accepting that they lost. The Cowboys lost.

I’ve watched the clip many times and can see the same thing every time. Dez Bryant caught the ball, tucked it away establishing possession with three feet on the ground and stretched for the goal line in a move common to football when contact with the ground jarred the ball.

I can’t not see that when it’s so clear. I certainly won’t take that catch away from him because of how it turned out. That was a damned good throw and an even better catch when it was needed most. It was clutch.

And that speaks nothing of the rules stating there must be conclusive evidence to overturn the ruling on the field, a burden not hardly met with the reversal. Regardless of anything else, that point is undeniable by anyone looking to do more than just bash America’s favorite team to hate.

The Cowboys did what they’re paid to do. It was a close game all afternoon and they found a way to beat the Packers on the road.

What more could you ask from them?

This subject isn’t open to debate, not for me. I’m a fan first, and blog owner second. The trolls who insist on getting rowdy about it are met with an instant block and the rest are easily ignored. Screw who the player is, or the team, or the game, all of it – that man caught the ball as he’s done many times before. End of story.