Harbaugh compares no fumble call to tuck rule

SANTA CLARA -- A potential game-changing fumble with 2:15 remaining in regulation Sunday was not a fumble.And 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh staunchly disagreed with the crucial ruling in the NFC Championship Game against the New York Giants."This one I did not agree with, felt like it was a fumble, felt like it was analogous to the Tuck Rule," Harbaugh said on Monday.Harbaugh was on the Raiders coaching staff during that January 2002 game in which an apparent game-ending fumble against the New England Patriots was overturned in an AFC divisional playoff.
Bradshaw caught a short pass from quarterback Eli Manning. Safety Dashon Goldson went low to attempt a tackle on Bradshaw, while cornerback Tramaine Brock hit him high at the Giants' 21-yard line.Brock wrapped up Bradshaw and spun him backward as linebacker NaVorro Bowman arrived and immediately stripped the ball away. As Goldson recovered the ball, head linesman Mark Hittner turned his back and immediately signaled that it was still the Giants' ball. He then explained to referee Ed Hochuli his ruling that Bradshaw's forward progress had been stopped."In my opinion, that was a fumble," Harbaugh said. "I'm sure the league will defend it and the officials will defend it. But to me the play was continuing, there was struggling going on by Bradshaw. So (I) feel like that was a fumble."If the play had been ruled a fumble, the 49ers would've taken over at the Giants' 18-yard line with 2:15 remaining. The score was tied 17-17, and the Giants had two timeouts remaining.Harbaugh also said he was "disappointed" in the call to penalize tight end Vernon Davis with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for jumping on the camera stand to celebrate after his 73-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter. Back judge Carl Paganelli was the official who flagged Davis."To me, that was no different than Lambeau Field when they leap up into the stands and stand up in the stands," Harbaugh said. "That's not a prop that Vernon brought out of his uniform somewhere. That was a structure that he stood on. So I was disappointed in that call in this type of game."