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Here are a couple of cases regarding what I meant above:
(1) X1, eligible, gets his hands on the forward pass while in contact with opponent Y1 and keeps his hands on the ball while moving toward X1's end line, falling, and maintaining contact with Y1. X1 touches ground with both feet in bounds but continues to fall toward his own end line, the ball moving backward and downward, ending with X1 sliding on the ground with X1 maintaining control of the ball moving toward his own end line until finally stopping. Where's the dead ball spot?
(2) Same play, but X1 and the caught ball are moving toward Y's end line. With Y1 in contact with X1, X1's knee hits the ground in bounds, and continues moving the ball forward, ending sprawling on the ground with arms with the ball stretched out in front of him, sliding with the ball toward Y's end line until finally stopping, still in control of the ball. Dead ball spot?
Is player possession, and hence the end of the pass, ruled retroactively once the completion is established, or is the ball considered loose until the pass can be ruled complete? And then consider the interaction with other criteria of dead ball or completed pass:
(3) X1 comes down with the ball having jumped for it, touches both feet to the ground in bounds, but then continues to fall, finally coming to rest with the ball on the ground out of bounds and out of his grasp. Incomplete pass, or does going out of bounds preclude the "control to the ground" criterion?
(4) After touching both feet in bounds, X1 while continuing to fall hops out of bounds, ending in control of the ball on the ground. Incomplete pass, or can he satisfy the feet on the ground and control of the ball criteria separately instead of simultaneously?
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