Bucs Postgame

[AnonEmouse]

Originally Posted by FrenchSkin

But when Apke catches the ball at the 9 by rule the ball is dead, anything that happened after that shouldn't count.

But that's the point, the ball is NOT dead, as he's still an active runner. If the ball had touched the ground while in his possession before he went into the end zone or his knee etc. had touched down beforehand then yes it would be a downed ball. But he caught it in mid air and ran straight into the EZ. There have been other examples in the past where a runners momentum carried him into the EZ and it was ruled a TB. Arguably the ref should have assessed it wasn't his momentum that carried him into the EZ, but you are asking the official to make a judgement call on whether a player deliberately ran over the goal line or not, and they are going to err on the side of caution.

NB I thought it hit his hand warmer on the replay but I only saw it from the one angle where it moved as the ball gets near him. That could easily be simultaneous movement and an optical illusion. I was a bit narked that we didn't get any other angles (at least I don't recall any) to confirm that. And the studio didn't seem keen on looking at it more closely so I can only assume it wasn't challenged because someone had an angle that confirmed it didn't hit.