Seem familiar? Packers rookie receiver Romeo Doubs learns when a catch is not a catch

GREEN BAY – OK, what exactly is a football move, anyway?

That head-scratcher of a question was being asked by some Sunday, when it appeared that Green Bay Packers receiver Romeo Doubs hauled in a 40-yard pass from quarterback Aaron Rodgers with two minutes left against the New England Patriots, for what looked like the go-ahead touchdown.

But, when Doubs cradled the catch and hit the ground chest down, the ball popped out and the officials ruled the play an incomplete pass. And football analysts talked about the “football move” Doubs needed to demonstrate to convince officials that the catch was secure.

Of all the weird phrases the NFL has adopted, this has to be one of the weirdest. But it is worth understanding.

“A football move?” Packers wideout Allen Lazard said. “You know, I think that’s why they write up the rules the way that they do, so they can be manipulated. And it’s all arbitrary, unfortunately.”

Viewed live, the play appeared so solid and convincing that with all of the Packers celebrating, coach Matt LaFleur challenged the ruling. Most agree now, with the advantage of replays, that the call was correct, even though it is still worth reviewing and debating. It’s also a teaching moment for the 22-year-old rookie.

“I knew that it was a big drive,” the soft-spoken Doubs said after the game Sunday night.

Even former Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant, author of the infamous non-catch against the Packers in the playoffs in 2015, tweeted that Doubs’ catch was good – until he saw the replay and corrected himself.

More: Of course Dez Bryant immediately recognized Packers WR Romeo Doubs’ questionable non-TD catch

More: Ball hit ground before Bryant completed catch, ref says

More: This motorist wants to make sure you know ‘Dez caught it’

The Packers were not expected to be tied late in the game at Lambeau Field, especially facing New England’s third-string quarterback. But this was a moment looking for a hero, and a 38-year-old Rodgers-to-rookie WR play was a classic in the making.

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Doubs twisted back to his left to get the ball while running forward into the end zone. With the ball in his hands, he got two steps down. He then got the ball in his left arm while falling to the ground on his right. The ball looks secure for at least 1.5 seconds. Then the ball comes out as Doubs looks like he’s trying to curl in to protect it.

“I definitely sympathize,” Packers running back Aaron Jones said. “If you go back and watch, you’ll see me and Christian Watson take off from about the 50-yard line. Like, we’re not in the game, but we ran down there because we thought he scored.

“And then once we got down there, we saw the ref go like this (incomplete gesture). We were all looking at each other like, confused. We’re walking off, looking at the scoreboard, trying to see if it’s a touchdown.

“In my opinion, it was a touchdown. He has two feet down, he controlled the ball. And as he was going to the ground, his elbow hit first. His right elbow hit the ground, which, to me, marks him down, in the open field – or wherever.

“And then the ball comes out. So I definitely sympathize with him, I told him I thought it was a catch.”

More: NFL: Completing a Catch

The entire collaboration was just a few seconds long. What could have he done? Maybe Doubs was supposed to show his right arm trying to wrap around the ball as well. A more experienced receiver might be able to do that.

This is what the NFL is looking for in these close calls:

The receiver a. secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and

b. touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and

c. after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, performs any act common to the game (e.g., tuck the ball away, extend it forward, take an additional step, turn upfield, or avoid or ward off an opponent), or he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so. 

“I think a football move is just looking fluid,” Lazard said. “And the ball doesn’t look like it’s…you know, you don’t lose it at the end of the play or something like that.

“It was a good play by ‘Rome’ and everything. You just need to finish it off. And I think the biggest thing on those plays is, whatever they rule on the field is hard to overturn. If they rule it a touchdown, that’s going to be hard to say, incomplete. That’s probably the biggest factor in to those plays.”

Doubs, a perfectionist like his quarterback, is just in the first stages of working with Rodgers and enjoys the demanding nature of his position as well as working with the NFL MVP.

“Throughout the game, I was talking to Aaron,” Doubs said. “There were some adjustments that I may have… let’s just say, messed up on. Or, something that we just see, for the next time, we can attack.”

And when overtime provided another opportunity, Doubs seized it.

“I told him, once overtime started, go do the same thing. Only make it count,” Jones said. “He just giggled. He said, I got you.”

On the Packers’ second offensive drive of overtime and just needing a field goal to win, Rodgers went to Doubs on back-to-back plays, for gains of 8 and 9 yards, to help set up an easy field goal for the Packers’ 27-24 win.

Doubs said he shook off any feelings about the incompletion to keep his focus on moving forward. He already had scored his second touchdown of his young career with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, a 13-yarder out of the shotgun from Rodgers, to tie the game at 24-24.

“There was nothing I could do, all I was able to do was praise the defense, so they continue to help out the offense,” Doubs said.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Potential touchdown by Packers receiver Romeo Doubs ruled incomplete

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