Updates

A Dez Bryant goal-line reception during the regular season illustrates why referee Gene Steratore ruled that the Cowboys receiver didn’t complete his late-game catch in the Dallas-Green Bay NFC divisional playoff game on Jan. 11.

In his Jan. 12 “Official Review” segment on the NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access,” Dean Blandino, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, addressed the controversial call that overturned Bryant’s apparent goal-line reception. The issue: whether Bryant performed an “act common to the game.” Under the rules, that could have made the play qualify as a catch, and the key question was whether Bryant was doing so by clearly reaching for the goal line.

In the regular season game against the New York Giants, Bryant catches the pass near the goal line, gathers himself and lunges for the end zone. “It’s clear, it’s obvious — he’s reaching that ball, extending it, versus just going to the ground with his momentum,” Blandino explained.

“We thought it was indisputable that he didn’t perform that on the play yesterday.”

See the two-play comparison and more of Blandino’s explanation in his Jan. 12 "Official Review" segment.

Each week, NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino provides detailed explanations of calls from the previous week’s games. Click here to see previous weeks of “Official Review.”