The pro-touchdown arguments presuppose that Jennings a) had possession as he crossed the plane and b) maintained it. If he did not have possession of the ball (e.g., if it was moving in his hands), then getting his feet down in the end zone doesn't constitute a touchdown. Furthermore, the entire argument regarding Jennings' breaking of the plan is rendered moot by the fact that official ruled that he was in the act of falling, and from the screen shots that have been posted, it appears that was the correct call. Therefore, by rule, he must maintain possession all the way to the ground, even if he fell out of bounds. The ground may not be able to cause a fumble, but it sure can cause an incomplete pass.

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Because the ball was out before he was going to the ground so that nullifies the rule even applying.

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In that case, shouldn't the correct call been a fumble out of the end zone, the result being that the Bears received possession on the Packers' 20-yard line?

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Nope. By what I have pointed out, the ball was moving when the right foot first touched. As he moved the ball into his body, gaining possession his left foot made contact (1st foot). before his right foot touched again, the defender knocked the ball lose. So he never had possession for it to be a fumble.

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So the correct call in your opinion was incomplete pass. I can buy that.

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So if a player has possession of the ball, takes 2 steps, then goes down and loses the ball its an incomplete pass?

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Depends on the referee. I did some research and its inconsistent.

Some days, it would be a TD.
Some days, it won't be a catch at all.


We could debate it til we're blue in the face, bottom line, the rule is not upheld consistently.

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I don't think it's possible to have a TD catch fumbled out of bounds in the endzone if the player crosses the plane, or has made the reception in the endzone. In either scenario, possession is established first before a fumble must occur; if possession is established within the endzone a TD must result as the play is dead immediately.

I also do not believe Jennings bobbled it - he caught it at a weird angle, then shifts it to a more natural position. At no point does the ball bounce around in his hand.

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The way I remember it, and I really want to go back and watch a replay of it, was that Jennings caught it and took two steps before being stripped on the third and fumbling. In which case it is a catch and a touchdown. It would have been a fumble if it had been anywhere outside the end zone in the field of play (by the way, for those of you asking if it was a fumble, I hope you're making a joke).

The thing everyone is getting caught up on is that everyone is saying two feet down equals a touchdown. No it doesn't. You don't have to get two feet down, you have to make a football move, which taking two STEPS is (I believe I've even seen one step considered a football move). If anyone is watching the Arizona-San Fran game right now, you'll recall that the second Arizona fumble was a catch and fumble because he was stripped as he took his second strip by Willis (beautiful play btw).

The issue with going to ground is if you catch it and you are being tackled as you catch it as was the case with that Oakland receiver. That situation is nothing like Jennings as we've pointed out that Jennings was actually still running. For the argument that the defender touched Jennings shortly after catching it and therefore meaning he was going down I ask this: if a receiver catches a pass and as soon as he does a defender jumps on his back, he then runs with the ball for 20 steps and falls to the ground, losing the ball when he lands, is that incomplete? Clearly that would not be the case because he was not going down in spite of the contact and he made a football move after the catch.

That said, if Jennings bobbled it the entire time leading up to the strip (which I don't believe he did, but again I want to see the replay) then it would be incomplete. If not, it should have been ruled a touchdown.

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http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2009121302/2009/REG14/packers@bears#tab:watch 

and watch the video entitled: NFL Scoreboard: Packers-Bears highlights.

At the 25 second mark.

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