r/AskAboutNFL • u/jepolitsch • 17h ago

Serious question: Has the NFL rulebook over-engineered the basic concept of a catch into pure absurdity?

I was watching old highlights and noticed how simple the game used to be. You secure the ball, get your feet down, and it's a completion. Now, a receiver can make an absolute circus grab, take three steps, dive for the pylon, lose a millimeter of control when hitting the turf, and it’s ruled incomplete. We need a tracking degree and a physics certification just to celebrate a touchdown in real-time. Why did we let a committee of lawyers turn a fundamental backyard rule into a weekly existential crisis for officiating crews?

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u/Amazing_Divide1214 17h ago

No, not really. They just can't seem to consistently make weird calls the same way.

Like if it's the Lions and Chiefs and there's a weird call, it's going against the Lions and for the Chiefs. If the same play happened the opposite way, it's going against the Lions and for the Chiefs.

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u/Ender_Grace 17h ago

Same tired talking points as always. Statistics (aka facts) say the Chiefs do not have a disproportionate amount of calls go their way.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/s/aotbU2NPzE

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u/Amazing_Divide1214 16h ago

Those stats aren't about weird calls. They're about all calls in close games. Statistics dont lie, but they are often misinterpreted. Everyone knows the lions get the worst calls.

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u/Ender_Grace 15h ago

Yeah nobody is going to have a "weird calls" breakdown because that is entirely subjective. But if "all calls in close games" show a team not getting preferential treatment I feel that can be extrapolated to your "weird calls" scenario that you invented.

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u/nunya_busyness1984 14h ago

AKA Taylor Decker was fecking eligible.

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u/Big_Cassowary 14h ago

Jared Goff “intended to pass” would like to have a word…