Coach Garrett: Dez Made 'One Of The Great Catches' In NFL History
IRVING (CBSDFW.COM) -- Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett refuses to blame officials for Dallas' 26-21 loss to Green Bay on Sunday. He also refuses to back down from his position that Dez Bryant made a spectacular catch.
"To me, Dez went up and made one of the great catches in the history of the National Football League," said Garrett on Monday morning with Shan & RJ on 105.3 The Fan."In my mind, it was reminiscent a little bit of the Lynn Swann catch in the Super Bowl against the Cowboys."
Replays showed that Bryant bobbled the ball as he went to the ground on a critical fourth down, with the ball appearing to touch the ground. But Garrett believes that Bryant was doing more than just falling to the ground -- he was lunging towards the goal line.
"The thing we hear a lot as coaches is making a football move -- making a move common to the game of football. They use that expression a lot," said Garrett. "To me, that's how this play should be interpreted and probably was interpreted by the official right there on top of the play."
"He goes up over the defender, he gets one foot down, he gets the second foot down, he got a knee down and he extended for the goal line. The move common to the game is the extension to the goal line."
Garrett says he discussed his view with referee Gene Steratore, but Steratore instead believes that Dez never completed the act of the catch. Having watched Bryant play all season, Garrett believes Bryant is capable of things that officials simply aren't prepared for.
"My feeling is, sometimes they have to appreciate how great these guys are and how unique they are as athletes -- and they can do these things. To me, that's what Dez did."
Former Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith agrees with Garrett's assessment, calling it a "tremendous catch" that officials took away from Bryant.
"It is a dumb rule because you take away the athletic ability of people like a Dez Bryant or a Calvin Johnson who have the strength to go up in the air and control the ball with one hand -- like a basketball player palming a basketball. It is a truly dumb rule."
Had the catch stood, the Cowboys would have faced a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, trailing 26-21. Instead, the ball was turned over on downs, and the Cowboys never regained possession.
But Garrett isn't willing to place all the focus on that one play.
"It is a 60 minute game...We had opportunities before that play. We had opportunities after that play. Ultimately we didn't get the job done."
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