No, the NFL’s new catch rule isn’t the reason the Eagles won Super Bowl 52

Super Bowl 52 flirted with PR disaster for the NFL when a pair of crucial touchdowns for the Philadelphia Eagles went to official review. Both were ruled receptions on the field, but the league’s antiquated catch rule threatened to overturn them. Both stood on the field, as called.

In a 41-33 win over the New England Patriots, those touchdowns made all the difference.

But according to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio, the rulings were made by officials using a standard for a catch that was still more than a month away from being implemented:

The crux of the report is Paolantonio alleges the new catch rule — passed by a unanimous vote Tuesday — was “already in place” for Super Bowl 52 and officials were “basically legislating on the fly” during the game instead of sticking to the standards of the 2017 season.

The NFL’s head of officiating Al Riveron denied the report Wednesday, and spoke about why the Corey Clement touchdown reception, specifically, wasn’t overturned.

“In order for us to overturn the call, we had to see clearly indisputable evidence,” Riveron said. “There was some slight movement, but we didn’t see loss of control. We didn’t see indisputable evidence that he did not have possession of the football.”

According to Riveron, “slight movement” of the football was allowed under the former catch rule. And that’s the problem with the report that a yet-to-be-passed rule was already in place: neither touchdown was ruled incorrectly by either standard.

Of the two plays, the more controversial is Clement’s touchdown. The old rule required a player to “control a ball through the process of going to the ground.” The Eagles running back never let the ball hit the ground and already had his left foot down when he caught the pass, but the ball did move some in his arms.

The simplified version of the catch rule passed Tuesday wouldn’t have any impact on the ruling. Those new rules require:

The question is still — old rule or new — whether or not he had control.

The second catch was a question of “completing the process” to the ground. Ertz caught a pass, took a couple steps, and dove to the end zone where he lost the ball upon impact with the ground.

The immediate comparison was to a similar play made by Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Jesse James that was ruled incomplete during the regular season. But the difference was James was going to the ground during the process of making the catch, while Ertz completed the catch while on his feet before diving for the end zone.

By the new rule, both James and Ertz would’ve been awarded a touchdown. But the play made by Ertz was a touchdown either way.

Only Riveron and Paolantonio know what was said during their conversation at the annual league meeting. But speculation that officials were “legislating on the fly” and using the new catch rule doesn’t seem to hold much water, because both rules would’ve had the same result.