It has been nine years since Dez Bryant’s infamous non-catch in the 2014 NFC divisional playoffs against the Packers, and yet there is still confusion about exactly what constitutes a catch in the NFL.
The NFL has worked hard to simplify its catch rules since the “Dez caught it” moment. The changes initially made some minor improvements, but there remained gray areas in the rulebook as a result of some ambiguous wording.
For example, the league first tweaked the catch rule in response to the Bryant no-catch to state that players needed to “establish themselves as a runner” instead of “make a football move” after grabbing the ball. That adjustment provided officials with little extra clarity about the rule.
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The league’s changes during the 2018 offseason were a bit better, as language surrounding the NFL’s definition of a catch was altered. That came after a controversial ruling in a Steelers-Patriots game late in the 2017 season when Steelers tight end Jesse James appeared to have scored a touchdown.
The officials ruled that James did not “survive the ground” while reaching for the goal line. As such, the pass was ruled incomplete.
At the time, the NFL claimed the changes were due to entertainment purposes; in reality, the goal was to clear up confusion regarding what should and should not be a catch.
Nearly five years after those changes, the debate still rages on. There have been plenty of passes during the 2022 NFL season and 2023 playoffs that appeared to be caught but were ruled incomplete by the letter of the law. This included one involving Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase in Cincinnati’s 27-10 win over Buffalo in the AFC divisional round.
Matt Milano forces the ball loose to prevent the TD.
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Chase’s overturned touchdown didn’t ultimately matter, but it further underscored the thin line between what is and what isn’t a catch at the NFL level.
So, what is a catch in the NFL? Here’s the league’s official definition of a catch per its rulebook.
MORE: Ja’Marr Chase’s overturned TD once again brings focus to NFL catch rule
NFL catch rules in 2023
The NFL’s catch rule has remained unchanged since NFL team owners voted to pass simplified catch rules in March of 2018.
Al Riveron, who was the NFL’s senior VP of officiating at that time, explained to Sporting News that the change in the language of the catch rule was about adding entertainment to the game rather than clearing up any confusion.
“I think we got to a point where fans, the office, coaches, players wanted to see more exciting plays,” Riveron said. “How do we make this particular play a catch? How do we take the Dez Bryant play and make it a catch and still stay within the rules and the confines? How do we get these exciting plays back in the game?”
The NFL’s decided that the best way to do that was to require the player making the catch to do three things: Control the ball, get two feet or another body part down, and make a “football move,” which is clearly defined within the rule.
The new language also eliminated the phrase “survive the ground” from the NFL’s process. It strove instead for officials to determine exactly when a player was able to secure and control the ball.
“I know we’ve come up with a great rule,” Riveron said.
Below is the NFL’s catch rule in its entirety, as detailed in Rule 8, Section 1, Articles 3-4 in the league’s official rulebook.
A player who makes a catch may advance the ball. A forward pass is complete (by the offense) or intercepted (by the defense) in the field of play, at the sideline, or in the end zone if a player, who is inbounds:
a. secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and
b. touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and
c. after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, performs any act common to the game (e.g., tuck the ball away, extend it forward, take an additional step, turn upfield, or avoid or ward off an opponent), or he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so.
And below are the notes associated with the rule:
- Movement of the ball does not automatically result in loss of control.
- If a player, who satisfied (a) and (b), but has not satisfied (c), contacts the ground and loses control of the ball, it is an incomplete pass if the ball hits the ground before he regains control, or if he regains control out of bounds
- A receiver is considered a player in a defenseless posture (See 12-2-7) throughout the entire process of the catch and until the player is capable of avoiding or warding off the impending contact of an opponent.
- If a pass is caught simultaneously by two eligible opponents, and both players retain it, the ball belongs to the passers. It is not a simultaneous catch if a player gains control first and an opponent subsequently gains joint control. If the ball is muffed after simultaneous touching by two such players, all the players of the passing team become eligible to catch the loose ball.
- If a player, who is in possession of the ball, is held up and carried out of bounds by an opponent before both feet or any part of his body other than his hands touches the ground inbounds, it is a completed or intercepted pass. It is not necessary for the player to maintain control of the ball when he lands out of bounds.
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Issues with the NFL’s catch rule
The NFL’s simplified catch rule has not entirely avoided the pitfalls of its predecessors. Riveron explained that both Bryant and James’ non-catches would have been completed passes under the NFL’s changed rule, but there have still been plenty of debates akin to the Chase one.
Why is that? One of the main culprits is the “surviving the ground” element of the rule. Yes, that language has been removed from the NFL rulebook, but players are still, in essence, required to survive the ground to make a catch in many instances. This is because of the second note associated with the catch rule, which states:
If a player, who satisfied (a) and (b), but has not satisfied (c), contacts the ground and loses control of the ball, it is an incomplete pass if the ball hits the ground before he regains control, or if he regains control out of bounds.
So, a player must make “an act common to the game” before going to ground with the ball to complete a catch. This can include extending the ball or getting a third foot down in bounds, among other options.
If a player does not do that, however, they must control the ball through contact with the ground — or, in other words, survive the ground.
While the “act common to the game” is more well-defined than the simple “football move” provision that used to exist, it still isn’t always exactly clear to fans when an act common to the game has or hasn’t occurred. As such, it’s harder to know exactly when a player must control the ball through the ground.
So, while the officials are often making the correct ruling, it doesn’t pass the eye test for fans. That, and the fact that there is still enough ambiguity within the definition of an “act common to the game” to cause confusion, is what causes the disconnect between all of the parties involved.
