DeVonta Smith had football fans everywhere wowed by his latest highlight catch during the 1st quarter of the NFC Championship Game.
The Philadelphia Eagles decided to go for it on 4th down. Jalen Hurts found Smith to keep the drive alive and avoid turning the ball over on downs to the San Francisco 49ers. Smith extended for what appeared to be an incredible one-handed grab.
Smith’s catch helped the Eagles go on to score and take a 7-0 lead. It turns out, however, that the 49ers should have challenged the call. Replay showed that Smith did not have the ball secured to complete the catch as he went to the ground.
We’ll see if Smith’s credited 29-yard catch looms large in the final outcome. It’s 7-0 Eagles, with the game airing on FOX.
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It looked like a catch to me.
You need to make an appointment with a local optometrist, Stevie Wonder.
Haha.
Ball hit the ground.
I have seen worse calls upheld. SF did not want to waste a time out.
Which begs the question... Why, in this day and age of instantly available information, video feeds/camera work that rival what can be seen on the field by the naked eye, and the multi-billion dollar enterprise that is the NFL, can't officials just get these plays right with replay?
That incompletion changes the entire complexion of the game. Fourth down, turnover on downs, San Francisco not immediately chasing the lead. If no official had a good enough visual to not rule this a definitive catch (which if somebody did, they should be fired), then you slow up play for 1-2 minutes, allow a replay official to review the play, and make the correct call.
I'm aware of the rules, and the officials were simply following the rules, but it's almost like the NFL and other sports leagues like the NBA (where coaches get one challenge whether it's successful or not) don't want the RIGHT calls to be made, rather they want the illusion that things are being called correctly. The whole human-error in officiating is just nuts in a league worth 132 billion dollars.
It's not like making games an extra 5-10 minutes longer is really changing anything. Just run more adds for Lays and Bud Light.
49ers should of challenged, it’s a catch otherwise!