49ers Blog and Q&A: Pereira defends "incomplete" call

As many of you undoubtedly saw, Mike Pereira, the NFL�s head of officiating, gave his take on Vernon Davis� controversial �incompletion� a few minutes ago on the NFL Network. Pereira, of course, supported referee Gerald Austin�s contention that Davis did not clearly get two feet on the ground. Instead, he said Davis had one foot down and that safety Troy Polamalu�s hit forced the second foot to touch the grass before he was upended. �That�s the key,� Pereira said. �Did he complete the catch?� Davis did not clearly establish himself as a runner, Pereira said. Under that scenario, Pereira said, Davis would have to have maintained control of the ball as he hit the ground. Pereira then showed a frame in which the ball appeared to hit the ground as Davis was landing.
My reaction? If I ever committed a crime, I would want Pereira and his team sitting next to me in court because it seems as if they worked very, very hard to come up with a plausible scenario to defend Austin�s call. Remember, Austin�s argument at the time of the call and immediately following the game is that Davis �barely got the second foot on the ground� not that Polamalu drove that second foot into the ground. Austin also said that Davis failed to make a �football move,� a term that was eliminated from the NFL rulebook during the offseason regarding what constitutes a catch. Kudos, however, to Rich Eisen, who grilled Pereira pretty hard during the segment even though they both work for the NFL. No journalistic lapse there �
-- Matt Barrows