The Best New Catch
I’ve gone on record stating how much I still adore Beckham’s famous grab. Even through all the noise, the arguing, the hype, and the haters, I still think it’s pretty much one of the greatest feats of athleticism I’ve ever seen, and if anything, all the discussion it caused was ultimately somewhat of a detriment to its legacy, because as quickly as it became a phenomenon, it also became the most annoying topic in the world.
I am so tired of every one-handed grab being compared to it. I am so tired of Cris Collinsworth saying his name every single time a dude makes a good catch. I am so tired of the haters who just want to discredit the catch in some way because they are also tired of it. I’m tired of people constantly bringing up other great catches that aren’t as talked about just to be spiteful. Michael Strahan famously got his single-season sack record at the expense of a Brett Favre dive and it has haunted discussion of that ever since. I agree with Strahan’s thoughts on the matter. If you don’t like it, beat it. I am very eager for something to replace the Beckham grab as the “greatest catch ever made”. Maybe we finally got it on Sunday.
On 4th and 18, with the wackiest game of the year on the line against the mighty Buffalo Bills, Kirk Cousins heaved a ball that looked to be, at best, broken up. Probably picked off. Instead, Justin Jefferson, splayed out sideways, got his hand behind the ball and managed to keep enough tension on it to secure it off the ground as he and the defender collapsed. Honestly the grab itself isn’t the most impressive part, it was how he managed to keep it from touching the ground that really impresses me. It reminds me of the Helmet Catch in that the sheer amount of pressure and force needed to keep that ball from touching the ground because if it does, the refs are going to take it away. I don’t know if it is a more athletic grab than Beckham’s impossible fingertip stretch. What I do know is it easily surpasses Beckham’s in terms of context. That catch saved the game for the Vikings.
I don’t know if we will still be talking about this catch years from now the way we currently use Beckham’s as this cultural touchstone. Part of the curse of having a cultural moment like that is that the next one has to be something really new to break the ceiling. I hope we do though, because it deserves it, and I am so tired hearing about the Beckham catch. I want to take the Beckham catch and put it in a nice little box that I can bust out once in a while years from now with nostalgic fondness instead of being bludgeoned over the head with every time someone snags a one-hander.
It’s amazing that the catch was just part of a series of game-defining moments. There were about 10 different moments in that game that would have been classic game-defining moments. The youtube recap is 20 minutes long and worth the whole watch. Diggs had his own Beckham-esque grab in the second half. Jefferson almost caught the game-winning TD too, only to be called down on the half yard line. The Vikings appear to choke when Dalvin Cook drops the obvious TD to win it on 4th down, only to be given life by a penalty. The Bills then cement the win by stuffing Cousins! THEN THE FUMBLE. I still can’t believe the fumble. I thought Allen just didn’t make it out of the endzone and it was a safety to keep the game alive, but then they signaled touchdown. What on earth. I’ve never seen anything like that. Then the Bills go all the way in 37 seconds to force overtime, keeping this nonsense alive! The Bills get away with a drop that isn’t reviewed on the drive. The Vikings manage to reach the 3 yard line, get stuffed, the Bills have life, and finally, Patrick Peterson seals the deal with a pick on Allen in the endzone. Incredible. Instant classic. Likely the best game of the season. Football can be so good.
That game was straight up stupid with how early on it looked to have all the trappings of another Bills blowout till shit really got real in the 4th. Then the Vikes choked it away at the goal line in true Vikings fashion only for the Williams to remind everyone of the definition of Razorcakes. Allen pulled an Allen and we had OT that should not have been and two great drives that go great together. I thought for sure we were going to end up with the most epic and amazing tie in the history of ever till that pick. Truly an insane game.
Ohh right, and there was a crazy good catch in there somewhere, too. Hate to say it, Dave, but I don’t think this will go down as the big moment catch you want it to be, but only because every other play in the 4th and OT felt like a big moment. I also find it funny that if Lewis just stopped fighting for the ball it would have fallen incomplete because yes, it was just like the helmet catch, but in this case the helmet was the corner’s hand.
“I also find it funny that if Lewis just stopped fighting for the ball it would have fallen incomplete”
This is the thing that drives me bonkers about defenders. It’s 4th down. Just let it fall incomplete. Unless you’re behind the line of scrimmage or have a clear return lane, incomplete and turnover-on-downs is a better outcome than a pick
It may drive us bonkers, but in nearly every other situation that INT is a huge gain, so I can see it being tough to get out of that mindset, even for one play. We armchair QBs (or CBs, in this case) see it as obvious, but I can’t imagine how it must feel to be in the moment, brain hyped to the moon, to force yourself to go against all of your football training and let a ball you might be able to steal fall just to the ground.
Situational awareness is part of the reason they’re getting paid the big bucks though
INTs are also often significantly inancially incentivized, with 6-7 figure bonuses for reaching a certain number in a season.
“Hate to say it, Dave, but I don’t think this will go down as the big moment catch you want it to be, but only because every other play in the 4th and OT felt like a big moment.”
It’s this as well as the simple fact that OBJ’s catch will always be THE basis of comparison for every sick catch that happens now. Even now we’re talking about Justin Jefferson’s catch relative to OBJ’s catch. As long as the Beckham catch remains the primary basis of comparison for all wild catches, it will never be eclipsed in terms media hype.
Brent Grimes’ 2ft-airborne full-stretch one-handed pick over Megatron never got the mad love it was due.
HEY YOU LEFT PICKENS OUT
Heck, I still love reminiscing about Joe Jurevicius tipping a pass that was behind him back to himself in a Bucs-Eagles game.
The Jefferson catch was more luck than Beckhams though. Jefferson went up for it, and if the defender chose to either a) swat the ball, b) successfully catch the ball (he had two hands on it), c) not catch the ball with two hands, Jefferson never would have caught it. He kinda stole it from the defender when they were going to the ground.
Beckham was all alone, falling down, PI’d, and got three fingers on the football. and hauled it in. There were no outlying factors other than Bechham’s ability that could have changed that play.
The OBJ catch hype will always annoy me when Brent Grimes made one just as good as a cornerback! That same season!
That’s the one I meant.
OBJ was ‘targeted’ by Elisha. Optimus Grimes wasn’t (you could argue Megatron wasn’t either).
OBJ was on the ground. It’s hard to comprehend just how far Grimes was airborne even looking at pics.
Both full stretch in different directions, and both one handed catches, but Grimes had to come down with it in bounds, whereas OBJ was on his way down already.
For me, Grimes had to do more, which makes it the more impressive of the two.
It had it’s moment, especially during the season, but it never got past the comparison to OBJ and that may have been what pushed it into obscurity. Beckham also probably had the benefit of it being against the Cowboys in prime time instead of a random afternoon matchup against the Lions.
Honestly, the way I feel about those sick catches is the way you described it in this comic: https://www.thedrawplay.com/comic/angels-in-the-endzone/
Every sick catch doesn’t need to be compared to Odell’s catch, but we should enjoy every sick catch we get.
yay true
Fortunately, 30 plus years of Bills fandom had me prepared for Sunday’s outcome.
You forgot to add that when the Vikings got stuffed at the goal line in OT the Bills had 12 men on the field :v
I’m fairly certain there was an obvious encroachment call missed on that play, too. Isn’t it a penalty when defenders have their hand on the ground parallel to the football? Some of them even had their helmets over the line.