Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The New York Giants came back to beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday evening, thanks to a late Eli Manning touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks. But it was what happened before the touchdown pass that ignited controversy, and perhaps changed the outcome of the game. As Victor Cruz made a catch over the middle, he stumbled to the ground, then dropped the ball before he was touched down. Arizona recovered, only to have the officials rule Cruz down, allowing the Giants to keep possession.
Watch the video after the jump and judge for yourself. Was this a fumble and did the refs blow the call?
Notice how he was never touched until the ball comes out. The question, however, is whether Cruz gave himself up, much like a quarterback would when sliding. He appeared to stumble and go down, which would mean he was never down by contact. And if that were the case, the Cardinals should've been awarded the ball, and Manning's touchdown pass to Nicks should have never happened.
So, was it a blown call and did it cost Arizona?
7 comments
Brian Floyd:
VIDEO: Victor Cruz Appears To Fumble; Did The Refs Miss The Call?
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Comments
That is a fumble!
Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan
Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Coyotes, Arizona Rattlers fan
[I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].
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by JoeCB1991 on Oct 2, 2011 7:45 PM EDT reply actions
when he got up he left the ball there... looks like a stupid technicality
but the call on the field is right. it’s not like AZ forced a fumble only to be robbed of it.
It’d have been a gift fumble recovery.
AZ still had a chance to stop the TD pass but Peterson lost Nicks when trying to track the ball.
It’s the way it goes…
http://brotherspork.wordpress.com/
by Infemous on Oct 2, 2011 7:48 PM EDT reply actions
Horrible call
Did that look like a QB sliding feet first to give himself up ? A mental error, stupid call, and a gifted game for the Giants. Terrible call by the refs.
by SAP_Pete on Oct 2, 2011 8:00 PM EDT reply actions
forward progress was stopped voluntarily play=over
by wyominggiantsfan on Oct 2, 2011 8:02 PM EDT reply actions
looks fine
I understand the complaint, but it looked to me like the right call.
by Cornfields on Oct 2, 2011 8:51 PM EDT reply actions
before he goes down he looks right, then he looks left, realizes he’s about to get creamed and then goes down. i’ve been hearing that he stumbled and that’s why he went down but he saw what was about to happen and threw himself to the ground.
by Alex Goldstick on Oct 2, 2011 8:52 PM EDT reply actions
Get resume ready
If you are correct in what Cruz was thinking at the time then he needs to look into a different profession. It’s professional football and he is not a quarterback. Regardless of what was the correct call, as a player you are told to not stop until the whistle is blown! You never know if someone is going to view the play different than you which happened in this case. To me it looked like Cruz thought he was down by contact by the defensive player that he collided with during the catch which caused him to stumble and end up on his knees. From the clip I saw it was difficult to see if the defensive player still actually had some contact with Cruz when his knees hit the grown so technically I would have said no fumble since it was ruled that way originally.
by Roni24 on Oct 2, 2011 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions
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