Victor Cruz was the Giants' unlikely hero in last week's win over the Eagles, but he was nearly the NFL's goat yesterday. When Beanie Wells waltzed into the end zone with 5:20 left to give the Cardinals a 10-point lead, I said "game over" to my roommate Colin. But a mere two minutes later, Eli Manning had the ball, down three points, with the Giants rolling towards an improbable comeback win. Then, after a 19-yard catch to put the Giants in field goal range, Cruz nearly threw it all away:
We Giants fans had seen this before. Twice in the past two years, both against the Eagles, a potential game-winning drive ended when Eli Manning fumbled the ball away while falling down untouched. I couldn't believe it was happening again. So you can imagine my surprise when the refs ruled that Cruz was down, even though he wasn't touched.
First things first, regardless of the ruling, it was a ridiculously boneheaded play by Cruz. There's little chance that he knew that he was exercising the right to give himself up. His mind was probably still on the field of UMass Amherst, where the play would be dead as soon as he hit the ground. But in this case, his original intent is irrelevant.
During the game, former VP of Officiating Mike Pereira said that he would have ruled it a fumble because he thinks Cruz stumbled to the ground. Later that night, Tony Dungy said that he thought a player gives up only when he slides. Here is the actual wording of the rule:
First things first, regardless of the ruling, it was a ridiculously boneheaded play by Cruz. There's little chance that he knew that he was exercising the right to give himself up. His mind was probably still on the field of UMass Amherst, where the play would be dead as soon as he hit the ground. But in this case, his original intent is irrelevant.
During the game, former VP of Officiating Mike Pereira said that he would have ruled it a fumble because he thinks Cruz stumbled to the ground. Later that night, Tony Dungy said that he thought a player gives up only when he slides. Here is the actual wording of the rule:
"Official shall declare ball dead...when a runner is out of bounds, or declares himself down by falling to the ground, or kneeling, and making no effort to advance."
It doesn't matter if Cruz slid, kneeled, or stumbled. He fell to the ground. That is enough. He then laid motionless, let go of the ball, and walked back towards the huddle, clearly showing that he made no effort to advance the ball.
Don't get me wrong, Cruz got off easy for a lapse in judgment. And for fans who have been watching football for years, it just looks wrong when a player literally hands the ball to an opponent and gets to keep possession. Just as it didn't make sense to us that a quarterback could fumble the ball in the snow and be saved by something called the "Tuck Rule." But, according to the letter of the law, Cruz's play was not a fumble. Falling to the ground? Check. No effort to advance? Check. I hope the competition committee revisits this in the offseason to clarify the rule. But the bottom line is, the refs got it right.
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