The Arizona Cardinals looked like they were potentially on their way to victory when Victor Cruz of the New York Giants went to the ground, let the ball go before he was touched by a Cardinals defender, and Arizona scooped it up. It looked like Arizona was finally going to get the crucial victory they'd been looking for after two heartbreaking defeats.
But the game wasn't over. And Arizona didn't have the football. Find out why after the jump, and why it's such a disagreeable call based on the video evidence (HT SportsGrid).
The officials ruled that Cruz was down despite going to the ground untouched, citing Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1 (e) of the NFL Rulebook: "Official shall declare ball dead…when runner declares himself down by falling to ground or kneeling & making no effort to advance." The play could not be challenged, even though if you watch the video, it's not clear that Cruz went down because he wanted to go down.
The Giants went on to score and win the game. This might not have cost the Cardinals the game outright, but it couldn't have helped.
Discuss the controversial call with Giants fans at Big Blue View, or with Cardinals fans at Revenge of the Birds.