Quote:
Originally Posted by Skinzman
I dont think you, nor 90% of the people, understand the rule. It was pass interference, as evidenced by the ref throwing the flag, that is not in question. However, there is a rule in the NFL that if a ball is uncatchable, the pass interference is negated.
Which brings us to why was the ball ruled uncatchable? Because of another rule saying that if the ball is batted or intercepted by a defensive player before getting to the receiver, then its automatically ruled uncatchable. Since it was intercepted prior to arriving at Gronk, the ball being uncatchable rule is automatically put into effect.
Had the ball not been intercepted or deflected prior to arriving at Gronk, then the pass interference would have been enforced and NE would have the ball at the 1 and have one more play.
If you want to argue that its a stupid rule, so be it. But the ruling on the field based on the rules was the correct call. The interception automatically makes it considered an uncatchable ball. Once its ruled uncatchable, that negates the pass interference call.
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Ehhhhh......seeing the replay of that play - it was pass interference. In this case, it doesn't have anything to do with the ball being tipped or intercepted - because the ball wasn't tipped prior to the interference, and the INT happened
after Gronk was being interfered with. So the question comes down to if the ball was catchable. The defender impeded Gronk's ability to come back for the football. Looks to me that while it would have been a tough catch to make, Gronk could have had a shot at catching it. It wasn't so badly under thrown that Gronk could not have made a play for it if he wasn't being interfered with. It is a bad call.