To complete a catch while going to the ground, you must survive the contact with the ground. In this case, A21 did not survive the contact with the ground with the ball in his possession.
If the sideline and/or end line aren't involved (and they weren't in this particular play)... the a pass can't be incomplete until it hits the ground. Since A15 managed to catch the ball and advance into B's end zone, we have a touchdown.
As for "having a long conversation"... so what? Talk it out, get the call right. Televised games are already 3-4 hours long anyway, so what's an extra 15 seconds to make sure you get the call correct?
Quote:
|
There was a case where they had a flag on the field for OPI, but then waved it off saying the pass was completed behind the LOS. Yet replay clearly showed the receiver 3-4 yards past the LOS. The official on the field had the flag, and I'd think that since he threw the flag he knew where the pass was relative to the LOS.
|
Which official threw the flag? If it was a deep official (F/S/B), there's no way they're going to know where the pass is caught relative to the LOS, because they're going to be at least 22-24 yards downfield. If the deep official has an OPI foul on a play like that, they're supposed to throw the flag and then get help from the L/U/H with regards to where the pass is caught.