The New England Patriots were down 15-10 late in their Week 5 matchup with the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
On a second-and-10 play from Miami's 12-yard line with just over a minute left to play, Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett dropped back and, with a man in his face, delivered a pass to Ja'Lynn Polk in the back of the end zone for what should've been the go-ahead touchdown.
Ja'Lynn Polk catches the TD for the #Patriots, but it is called an incomplete. pic.twitter.com/SfZ8NgOps4
— New England Sports Fellow (@NESportsFellow) October 6, 2024
However, the play was overturned despite Polk controlling the ball to the ground.
After the game, ESPN's Mike Reiss spoke with NFL vice president of officiating George Stewart, who explained the decision.
"The rule that was applied was the toe-heel rule," Stewart said. "What happened was he did have one foot down in the field of play, and, at the completion of the second step, he had his toe in the field of play, but his heel came down on the white line out of bounds. So, he did not have two feet in bounds at the conclusion of the catch."
Here is the rule from the rulebook:
"If any part of the foot hits out of bounds during the normal continuous motion of taking a step (heel-toe or toe-heel), then the foot is out of bounds. A player is inbounds if he drags his foot, or if there is a delay between the heel-toe or toe-heel touching the ground."
New England's next two passes were incomplete, they turned the ball over on downs and went on to lose 15-10.
It's unfortunate, but the rule was applied correctly. That's the second time in two weeks that Polk hasn't been able to make an incredible/important catch due to landing out of bounds.
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