Dead ball rule keeps Giants' drive alive

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Technically, it is known as Rule 7, Section 4, Article 1 (a). But it may forever become known as the Victor Cruz Rule.

That's because it's the rule that saved Cruz and the Giants from what could have been one of the most bone-headed mistakes in NFL history.

With the Giants driving for the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Eli Manning scrambled in the pocket and threw a pass to Cruz for a gain of 19 yards. Spinning out of a tackle attempt by Michael Adams, Cruz advanced several steps before falling. He was not touched by a Cardinals defender while on the ground, but when he got up he left the ball on the turf. Richard Marshall wound up with it for the Cardinals.

"I saw guys coming and I just wanted to get down and not do anything else to fumble or do something crazy," Cruz said. "I just wanted to get down."

But Cruz never was technically tackled and the Cardinals thought they had the ball. After a consultation, the officials determined that Cruz had "given himself up" on the play, at which point it was dead.

That's the rule: "An official shall declare dead ball and the down ended . . . when a runner is out of bounds or declares himself down by falling to the ground and makes no effort to advance."

The call is not reviewable, so the Cardinals could not challenge it. One play later, Manning hit Hakeem Nicks in the end zone for the winning score.

"I was a little scared, to be honest with you," Cruz said of the moments of confusion before the final decision. "The replay looked like somebody touched me, it looked like they didn't. You never know with those plays. It can go either way . . . but we ended up on the good side of that call."

Brandon Jacobs said he thought Cruz had been tapped while on the ground, so he wasn't concerned. But when he looked over at Cruz? "He was really worried," Jacobs said.

Manning put his hands to his helmet in a "What are you doing?" motion when Cruz got up and left the ball behind.

"We got a break on that one, I think," he said. "I thought it was going to get ruled a fumble. I saw it pretty clear. That's why I tried to get the ball and snap it real quick."

The Giants did try to run a quick handoff during the uncertainty to prevent a Cardinals challenge.

"He said he called him down, he gave himself up," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "He told me I could not challenge it. What's the understanding of that rule? I don't know."

On the Fox broadcast, former head of NFL officials Mike Pereira said it was a bad interpretation of the rule and that officials should not "protect a guy from his own stupidity."

"He's got to learn," Manning said. "I've made that mistake one or two times myself. Everything else was good about the play, but a good lesson learned."

And an obscure rule re-named.