Jesse James thought it was a catch.

The 68,000-plus who braved the cold and rain at Heinz Field thought it was a catch.

Millions of fans watching the game on television thought it was a catch.

Even Tony Romo thought it was a catch.

The only person who didn’t think it was a catch? A replay official in New York.

And as a result, the balance of power in the AFC shifted back to the New England Patriots.

Yes, those dregs.

For those who were living in an underground bunker through Sunday and just re-emerged Monday morning, James, a tight end for the Steelers, caught a pass at the 2, spun and lunged for the goal line, breaking the plane as he hit the soggy turf for what appeared to be a go-ahead touchdown in the waning seconds of a pivotal game against the Patriots.

However, replay overturned the call because it was ruled James “did not maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground.”

That doesn’t meet the eye test.

Anyone with only the bare minimum of common sense would say James’ catch was indeed a catch.

And that’s the problem. The NFL rule book and instant replay has scuttled common sense in favor of minutiae.

It’s happened before. It’s cost teams games before. Think Calvin Johnson for the Lions in 2010. Think Dez Bryant for the Cowboys in the playoffs last season.

And now we have James’ catch/no-catch in a game that could decide home field advantage in the AFC playoffs.

No small thing.

It’s a shame such a great game came down to a guy in New York watching a play frame by frame.

And it doesn’t even meet the criteria in the convoluted rule book.

One particular passage is of interest: “If a player has control of the ball, a slight movement of the ball will not be considered a loss of possession.”

That was what happened on that play.

Did the ball move? Yes. Of course it did. Slightly. The ball is going to move a little in that situation. In fact, one could argue it merely spun and the only reason one could see that the ball spun was that the laces were visible.

It was by no means conclusive that the ball even touched the ground — it appeared on the 8.1 million replays shown that James’ hand was under the ball the entire time.

It certainly wasn’t enough visual evidence to overturn a call of a touchdown on the field.

That’s why it’s so perplexing. These guys beat the stuffing out of each other for 60 minutes and risk permanent brain injury only to have a dude sitting in an office hundreds of miles away decide their fate.

It’s wrong.

Of course had the Steelers not Seattle Seahawked the game away with an ill-advised pass at the goal line, maybe things would have still turned out OK for the Black and Gold.

But the James’ catch/not catch will certainly stick in the memory for a long, long time.

And maybe — just maybe — the backlash will finally prompt a common sense rule change.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle