Super Bowl LII: No Pats conspiracy as Eagles benefit from controversial catch ruling
It wouldn’t be an NFL game without a catch controversy, so why should the Super Bowl be any different? The Philadelphia Eagles got the better of the catch rule against the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LII on Sunday night.
With 7:18 to go in the third quarter, Eagles quarterback Nick Foles hit running back Corey Clement on a 22-yard strike in the end zone to put Philadelphia up 29-19. Or did he …
Upon first view, yes, that’s a touchdown. But replays showed the ball barely moving as Clement was approaching the end of the end zone.
Since the catch rule is interpreted different by every officiating crew, some believed that movement would matter. If the refs determined the ball moved too much there, the touchdown would not have counted, as Clement failed to get his foot in-bounds after the ball moved slightly. Broadcaster Cris Collingsworth was among the group who believed the play would be overturned.
Perhaps surprisingly, it was not.
The refs allowed Clement’s catch to stand. The extra point pushed the score to 29-19.
Controversy over, right? Not a chance.
Given that the call was made on the biggest stage possible — between two exceptionally passionate fanbases — we’re guessing we may hear about this call for quite some time going forward.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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