What is the ‘toe-heel rule’ that was a deciding factor in Sunday’s Patriots loss?
Why was Ja’Lynn Polk’s near-touchdown overturned at the end of Sunday’s Patriots loss to the Miami Dolphins? It’s due to an obscure NFL ruling known informally as the ‘toe-heel rule.’
The end of Sunday’s New England Patriots-Miami Dolphins game at Gillette Stadium likely left many fans scrambling to the depths of the NFL rule book. Patriots nation, meet the ‘toe-heel rule.’
On the play in question, Patriots rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk secured what looked like a go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute to play. However after a brief review, the play was ruled an incomplete pass.
Why? After Polk’s first foot came down in bounds, his second foot landed toe-first. In the same motion, his heel then came down out of bounds in the back of the end zone.
According to NFL Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Note 6, which helps define what is or isn’t a completed catch, “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 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.”
After the game, NFL Vice President of Officiating George Stewart confirmed that was in fact the rule being referenced in a pool report with ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “The rule that was applied was the toe-heel rule,” Stewart explained. “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.”
“He did not have two feet in the field of play,” Stewart said when asked ‘elements of the play that were essential to the decision to overturn’ the call. “It was a toe-heel, it wasn’t a drag. It was a toe-heel that caused this to be an incomplete pass.” Stewart also confirmed had Polk’s second heel come down entirely in the end zone, it would have been ruled a touchdown.
With the play overturned, the Patriots had two more shots at the end zone but failed to score. They also ended up getting the ball back in the final minute, but a scramble drive came up short as well in what ended up being a 15-10 loss.
“It was close. But it was the correct call in my opinion,” head coach Jerod Mayo said after the game. “I’ll have to go back and watch the film. I saw the replay live. Just a tough call.”
“As a receiver, you know, catch the ball and get your feet in. I feel like that’s what I did. I don’t know, I can’t speak for [the refs],” Polk said postgame in the locker room. “It’s clear to see I got two feet in…But we ain’t in that situation if I’m doing my job throughout the whole game, making the key blocks for our guys around the field and just paying attention to details.”
Just like that, the toe-heel rule entered the Patriots lexicon. While it may be new to Patriots fans other fanbases around the league have ended up learning about the toe-heel rule the hard way, including the Rams and Seahawks last year, the Bengals in 2022, and the Seahawks in 2021.