Bengals Jermaine Gresham's catch/no catch

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Agreed. If they're saying the play is over the instant the ball crosses the goal line, then this is a touchdown.

No. You need to establish possession. To establish possession on a catch requires control of the ball and a football move, or all the way to the ground etc. Otherwise, a 10th of a second "catch" that is knocked out of the receiver's hands is a TD.

That's the difference between a player who has established possession before he hits the goal line (receiver who previously established possession and is running down the field, or a RB who takes the handoff) and a player who is still working to establish possession on the "catch".