The regular season began September in Chicago.  In the first half, Matthew Stafford was injured and would be sidelined for the following weeks to come.  The Lions were up 14-13 at the end of the first half.  Jay Cutler threw for 372 yards and Detroit was still in the game with backup quarterback Shaun Hill.  It looked like the Lions were going to get their first road win in 20 games when Calvin Johnson caught a 25 yard touchdown pass.  However, the play was challenged and overruled; the referees said that Johnson did not complete “the process”.  The Lions lost the game 19-14 and Calvin Johnson’s “catch” was a topic of conversation for the next couple of days.
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Instead, all I get is an article by NFC North writer Kevin Seifert stating that the call was correct “based on NFL rules.” He quotes the rule:

If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.

It’s a three sentence rule, so let’s step through each sentence to see if Calvin “completed the process” or not.

If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone.

The key phrase in this sentence is “he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground.” Calvin did. He caught the ball, took two steps and fell on his butt. The fall did not jar the ball loose; control was still maintained at that point. So now we have Calvin Johnson on his butt with the ball still clearly controlled in one hand. This should satisfy the entire rule because control was not lost when his body touched the ground. Let’s continue with the next sentence anyway:

If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete.

This part is tricky, and it has to be where the confusion is, but I still don’t see where the play failed to live up to the rule’s standard. Because, clearly, the ball didn’t touch the ground before he regained control. He never lost control before the ball hit the ground in the first place, so I don’t think this portion applies. I think the next sentence clarifies this further:

If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.

This is the one that convinces me that the correct ruling on the play should have been a touchdown. He had control the entire time prior to the ball touching the ground. The rule states: the pass is complete.

It was never a question of possession either. Everyone could see he had full control of the ball with two feet in bounds. The only question was whether or not he maintained control after his body touched the ground. He did. Am I seeing something incorrectly here?

[EDIT: Zac] I don’t mean to add insult to injury but click here to see one play that was ruled a touchdown just last year. The rules haven’t changed since then.

[EDIT: Matt] Another video. This time from the Super Bowl.