Marvin Jones extended as high as he could to snag Matthew Stafford’s deep throw down the left sideline in the fourth quarter of the Detroit Lions’ Week 14 loss to the Green Bay Packers. His hands snatched the ball cleanly from the air.
There is also pretty darn clear photographic and video evidence that Jones had both feet on the Ford Field turf inbounds as that happened. It only lasted for a brief moment before Jones crashed out of bounds, the ball still firmly in his secured possession.
The officials on the field didn’t see it, however. The booth review, ordered by a smart challenge from Lions interim head coach Darrell Bevell, also failed to see it, despite the FOX broadcast crew and rules analyst Dean Blandino all insisting the call would be overturned.
As for Jones, he knew he made a great catch. And he knows a couple of the officials thought so, too.
“Well, I knew I had it,” Jones said via Zoom after the game. “Once I caught the ball, obviously when I caught the ball my feet were down, so when I got up and he said it was incomplete, yeah, it threw me for a loop. Especially when I saw it on the big screen, I mean, both of my feet were down when the ball was in my hand.
You know, I don’t know if I can say too much without getting in trouble or something like that, but I definitely think it was a catch. I was actually mic’d up and there were a couple of refs that thought it was a catch, too, so I’ll just leave it at that.”
Bevell also thought it was a catch.
“Yeah, I saw just that. I thought Marvin (Jones Jr.) made a really good attempt at the ball, I saw the ball in his hands,” Bevell said in his own postgame Zoom. “It was a play worth challenging. It gave us an opportunity to be down there at the one or the two (yard line) or in the end zone, so a big play there.”
The Lions did score on the drive, but it took several more plays and resulted in quarterback Matthew Stafford suffering an injury in the process.
