The top story nationally Thursday night was New York Jets WR Garrett Wilson. In Pittsburgh, it was WR George Pickens. For the same reasons but on other sides of the coin. Jets’ fans celebrating Wilson’s unbelievable touchdown grab initially ruled incomplete but reversed for a touchdown. Steelers’ fans wondering how it was different than Pickens’ touchdown taken off the board Monday night.
Apparently, Pickens felt the same. In a now-deleted Instagram story, he vented about the different rulings.
For those who need to squint to see, the caption says: “But that’s a catch. Lmfaooo NFL BE HAVING VENDETTAS TOWARDS CERTAIN PLAYERS.”
Here’s an enlarged portion of the photo.
For those who haven’t seen it, a look at Wilson’s catch.
And a refresher of what happened to Pickens Monday night against the Giants, initially ruled a touchdown before being reviewed and reversed to incomplete.
So what’s the difference? Some believe the refs gave Wilson credit for tapping his left foot down twice even though his right foot landed out of bounds. Why didn’t Pickens get the same credit?
The reason is that’s not why Wilson’s touchdown counted. The refs ruled that his shin hit inbounds before his knee and body went out of bounds. And in the NFL, as has been a rule since…forever, one shin or knee is equal to both feet. That made it a catch.
Now, it is close. But replay review showed his shin inbounds just in front of the back of the end zone.
Pickens did no such thing. His knee nor shin ever landed inbounds, falling out of bounds on his butt. That’s the difference.
To recap:
Same foot twice = no touchdown
Both feet = touchdown
One knee/shin = touchdown
Pickens may be frustrated for having that and a separate touchdown negated, the latter by a Broderick Jones penalty. But there’s no vendetta. These are the right calls. Even if you dislike the rule.
