NFL admits critical mistake that hurt Panthers in crushing loss vs. Saints

What is a catch? In the past several years, Calvin Johnson, Jesse James, Dez Bryant, Isaiah Likely, and others have had to learn that the NFL really doesn't quite know what constitutes a catch.

Now, Carolina Panthers rookie Tetairoa McMillan can join that group. He had a catch right before the two-minute warning overturned in what proved to be a failed game-winning drive, but the NFL has apparently admitted they got that wrong.

NFL admits that Tetairoa McMillan's catch should've stood

On a second down, Bryce Young hit Tetairoa McMillan for a diving catch ruled a catch on the field. But because the game was nearing the two-minute warning, the play was up for review, and the officials determined that it was incomplete.

McMillan grabbed the ball with both hands as he was going to the ground. His second hand came off and the ball was on the ground, but replay never showed it moving in his other hand, which had a firm grip on the ball.

Surviving the ground is the most crucial and also most curious part of the catch process, and though McMillan's hand came off, it seemed as if he still controlled it, and it should've, at the very least, not been overturned.

Apparently, that is the sentiment of the league office, too. ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio reported, "The league privately admitted to the Panthers that the ruling on the field should not have been reversed, because it was not clear and obvious that McMillan had failed to make the catch."

Now, it is worth noting that Bryce Young scrambled for a first down on the next play before the two-minute warning, wiping out the failed catch. However, it is a logical fallacy to assume that everything, including the sack and the eventual punt, would've also followed had McMillan's catch been ruled correctly.

It's impossible to know what would've happened, but the Panthers didn't lose the game then and there. It hurt, but it's not why they lost. Facing a three-win team, it never should've come down to that anyway.

And, the defense had a shot to send it to overtime if they could only have just avoided a sliding Tyler Shough (looking at you, Lathan Ransom), so the officials didn't necessarily cost the Panthers. Still, this is a stinging admission after the fact, confirming what we all thought initially.

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