Ticky-tack or not, rules are rules. It's the refs job to enforce them. If it's a bad rule, fix it in the offseason, but otherwise, enforce the rules until that time.
Originally Posted by: DoddPower
I don't think it's a bad rule. But in real time did it look like he was trying to recover the ball? Real time is the only chance to make the call since I guess it was not reviewable.
Now that is the part that is really puzzling. The play
was reviewed. They had to determine if Johnson's knee was down before the ball came out, and if the ball crossed the goal line before it came out. They had to review that it wasn't recovered before going out the back of the endzone. Why can't they review the circumstances of
how the ball went out of bounds? Because slowed down on instant replay Wright clearly "bats or punches a loose ball (that has touched the ground) in any direction, [while in the] end zone."
If a Lions player is about to dive on the loose ball for a touchdown and Seahawks punch it out, I hope like hell the call gets made correctly, somehow.