Here’s the one question I have about this explanation of “why it was a bad call”. Where in the rulebook does it state that one hand isn’t control, or that there is such a thing as “more control” or even that two hands is control over one hand?
Because if that’s the case I can think of multiple one handed catches that need to be reversed throughout the history of the NFL. You don’t have to have both hands on the ball, shoot just look at the 2010 AFC Divisional Playoff game between the Ravens and the Steelers. By the explanation given by this article the in the famous “helmet catch” made by Antonio Brown, Brown never touched the ball with his second hand to establish control before running out of bounds.
Or how about in 2006 when the Eagles’ Reggie Wayne made a spectacular one-handed-catch, where he never touched the ball with anything more than one hand before running out of bounds, not his second hand, not his helmet, nothing, I guess that wasn’t a correct call because he never had control.
Also from a prime time game, how about Pierre Garcon’s one-handed grab against Washington in 2010? As Cris Collinsworth noted, the ball just stuck in his hand. Garcon never even had to use his second arm for a good catch.
Control is defined by the NFL as having and maintaining contact with the ball, and the ball not moving during while the contact is maintained. So really unless you can show where Tate lost contact or where the ball slid or “moved” in his hand after initially making contact, then he had control and it was a legit touchdown.
