The first catch controversy of the 2018 NFL season happened in the opener when Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones appeared to make a brilliant, juggling catch near the sideline only to have it ruled incomplete by officials.
Why did Julio Jones’ juggling, circus catch vs. the Eagles not count?
Officials took a second look and determined they got it right the first time.
Atlanta challenged the ruling, but the officials stuck with the call on the field and decided it was an incomplete pass.
Why wasn’t it ruled a catch?
Jones broke open for a big play when he torched Jalen Mills with a deadly double move.
Jones was forced to make a play on a ball that came in directly over his head and appeared to make the Willie Mays-esque grab after juggling the ball for a bit. But officials determined that by the time Jones finished corralling the pass and controlled it, he was lying out of bounds.
The question is whether pinning the ball to his shoulder constituted control, and if so, when exactly did he get in pinned enough? What may have saved the Eagles here was Mills using his right foot to temporarily pry Jones’ left hand off the ball.
NBC’s rule expert and former NFL official Terry McAulay thought the replay provided enough evidence for a changed call.
“He pins the ball to his shoulder right there in bounds,” McAulay said on the broadcast. “There’s no movement at all after he does that. We knew they were going to be a little more circumspect about reversing this year. I think they went a little bit too far that time. There was clear, definitive evidence.”
While the catch rule has been a controversial NFL talking point for years, this isn’t an example of the new version of the rule not working. This is just a case of whether or not officials think he made a reception in bounds. No version of the catch rule would’ve saved Jones here, only a determination that he had control while in bounds.
Unfortunately for Jones and the Falcons, officials didn’t think he did.
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