Pereira Declares Catch Rules “Most Confusing Part of the Game Right Now”

Spurred on by the controversial end to the Dallas Cowboys’ Divisional Round loss to the Green Bay Packers--the Dez Bryant catch that wasn’t--the NFL set out to clarify what constitutes a catch this offseason. Through three weeks of the 2015 season, it doesn’t appear that they did a very good job of it.

Just this weekend we had another controversial call, another big catch that looked like a catch to pretty much everyone, until an official declared it wasn’t. This time, it was the Bengals’ Tyler Eifert, who caught a pass, was met at the goal line, extended the ball over the plane and then had it knocked out. It looked like a clear-as-day touchdown. But it wasn’t.

Head of officiating Dean Blandino said after that Eifert didn’t control the ball long enough before he stretched the ball over the goal line.

Former official turned TV expert on officiating, Mike Pereira, meanwhile, said in an appearance on the Rob Dibble Show on Monday that what is and isn’t a catch is the most confusing part of NFL football--and that he himself no longer always knows what is and what isn’t.

“The most confusing part of the game right now: What is a catch and what is not a catch?” Pereira said, per Pro Football Talk. “Even I, in my role, I’m not even confident anymore in knowing when someone has possession long enough.”