It was the fourth quarter in Pittsburgh; the Steelers were trailing 24 to 27 against the New England Patriots with 32 seconds left in the game. At last, the Steelers had the ball at New England’s eight-yard line and would decide the number one seed in the AFC. Quickly, Ben Roethlisberger dropped back, looked over the middle and found Jesse James on a hitch route. At first glance, James “appeared to catch” the ball, bring it into his body, then turn and stretch for the goal line. Without hesitation, the referees went to the replay system to take a look at the play. After a lengthy review, the play was reversed from a catch to an incomplete pass because when James stretched for the goal line and contacted the ground, the ball moved and therefore …show more content…
The first reason the rule should change is that the NFL is losing viewership. The NFL viewership is down roughly eight percent according to ESPN (Rovell). Which roughly is 1.4 million fewer views compared to last years season 17.9 million (Rovell). Primetime games are affected more than the average viewership. Primetime night games are down 10 to 12 percent compared to the 8 percent average, but daytime games were only down 6 to 7 percent compared to the 8 percent average …show more content…
After thinking about it for four weeks, the three solutions I have come up with are; change or re-define the definition of possession and what a football move is, re-write the catch rule entirely, or change it so that a runner and receiver to maintain the same amount of possession when crossing the goal line. If the NFL were to implement any of these solutions, the Jesse James and Calvin Johnson catch would both be ruled touchdowns. The Dez Bryant catch would depend on the rule implemented. In the end, the NFL needs to change something to bring fans and great plays back into the game. Plays, not referees should decide