To understand the play that supposedly should have been called pass, it is most informative to watch it in the view from the side of the trajectory of the pass. That view provides a perspective of the location of the ball relative to the defender and the receiver, and it's easy to see that the defender makes contact with the receiver a split second before the ball arrives. The non-call on that play is consistent with the way such plays are called all the time in the NFL. Defenders are allowed to make contact a split second before the ball arrives. There is another view in which the ball is coming directly toward the camera. In that view, it is difficult to judge the timing of when the defender makes contact relative to the arrival of the ball. That view is misleading. The controversy over that play is nonsense.
