PHOTO: Gov. Christie Goes Nuts After Bryant Catch Is Overturned
GREEN BAY, Wis. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Dez Bryant stood near the sideline with a look of disbelief, hands raised to his head.
The 31-yard catch to the 1 in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter was reversed, and that helped knock the Dallas Cowboys out of the playoffs.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was at Lambeau Field to watch his beloved Cowboys, and he couldn't believe the call. The reaction from the governor, who was wearing his lucky orange sweater, was priceless.
DeMarco Murray ran for 123 yards on 25 carries and an efficient Tony Romo threw two touchdown passes, but the Cowboys squandered an eight-point lead in the third quarter to fall 26-21 on Sunday to the Green Bay Packers. It was the first loss on the road this season for Dallas after going 8-0 in the regular season.
Bryant finished with three catches for 38 yards.
The 31-yard catch overturned on video replay upset Bryant the most.
Was It A Catch?
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"Look, I'll tell you this, I've never seen that a day in my life. I want to know why it wasn't a catch," said an emotional Bryant, his voice sounding as if it was going to crack a couple of times.
On fourth-and-2 from the Packers 32 with 4:42 left and the Packers leading 26-21, Romo threw a deep pass left. Cornerback Sam Shields had solid coverage. The 6-foot-2 Bryant jumped high and came down at the 1.
Coach Mike McCarthy saw otherwise and threw a challenge flag. Fans at Lambeau Field roared as giant video boards showed the replay.
"Some people probably think throwing the red flag is a lot of fun. It's not all it's cut out to be, I can tell you that," McCarthy said. "But that was such an impactful play, you have to challenge that."
Replays showed that Bryant bobbled the ball as he rolled into the end zone, with part of it touching the field. After reviewing the play, officials overturned the call, saying Bryant didn't maintain control all the way to the ground.
The rule states:
"If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete."
Bryant thought otherwise.
"C'mon, man. I'm just saying, I think it was a catch. Obviously, they didn't think it was a catch, (the referees) took it away," Bryant said. "So obviously it was because of them."
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