There is much consternation, despair, and glee surrounding Dez Bryant’s miraculous catch – not catch – which doomed the Dallas Cowboys.

NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino attempted to explain.

That of course, is the rule. If a player goes to the ground in the process of making a catch, he must maintain control throughout the entire process of contacting the ground.

That doesn’t mean the ball can’t touch the ground – it can. The player only needs to maintain control of the ball. Bryant lost it momentarily as he extended for the goal line.

As For The Win’s Chris Strauss points out, therein lies the issue with the rule, and the way officials have enforced it since Calvin Johnson in 2010.

However, this runs deeper than Bryant’s catch or the way the rule is written. This is indicative of something that has become more and more prevalent in the way NFL games have been officiated in recent years.

As an emphasis on player safety increases – as it should – the freedom of referees to interject themselves into every play also increases – as it shouldn’t.

Dez Bryant was penalized for trying to make a play. Had he simply corralled the ball, brought it into his body, and didn’t attempt to extend towards the goal line (you know, making that football play everyone says he didn’t), the call would have stood as a completion.

Instead, Bryant extended, leaving himself exposed and the referees free to interpret. Officials have gotten away from the spirit of football and become focused on nuance and minutia.

How can a team’s season come down to a referee’s perspective of whether or not a receiver extended his arm enough?

We can argue the validity of both calls, we can argue if the officials got it right, and we can argue if the rules are poorly drawn.

What we can’t argue is that officials have played a more prominent role in games than the players, and that should never be.