FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — If not for the “toe-heel” rule, the New England Patriots might have had their second win of the season Sunday.
Instead, they lost 15-10 to the visiting Miami Dolphins after rookie receiver Ja’Lynn Polk’s 12-yard touchdown catch with 1:08 remaining was overturned after instant-replay review.
Polk leaped in the air under the goal posts to corral a pass from quarterback Jacoby Brissett, with his momentum carrying him towards the end line. Polk’s left foot came down in the end zone, as did his right toe, but his right heel landed out of bounds.
“The rule that was applied was the ‘toe-heel’ rule,” NFL Vice President of Officiating George Stewart said in a pool report. “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.”
Asked what elements of the play were critical in overturning the original call, said Stewart: “He did not have two feet in the field of play. It was a toe-heel. It wasn’t a drag. It was a toe-heel that caused this to be an incomplete pass.”
Patriots first-year coach Jerod Mayo agreed with the officials.
“It was close, but it was the correct call in my opinion,” Mayo said.
The Patriots had two more plays after the overturned call to potentially score. Then after the defense stopped the Dolphins to get the ball back at their own 43-yard line with 29 seconds remaining and no timeouts, a final desperation drive ended at the Dolphins’ 11-yard line.
Polk, a second-round pick from Washington, lamented that the Patriots were in that position because the offense was stagnant for extended stretches and the team totaled 12 penalties for 104 yards.
Brissett, who finished 18 of 34 for 160 yards, didn’t hit 100 yards passing until the fourth quarter.
The Patriots have lost four straight games since opening the season with a 16-10 road win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Mayo said last week that even in the Week 1 win over the Bengals, the lack of offensive firepower was “unsustainable”, which sparks a question of how close he might be to turning to rookie quarterback Drake Maye, the No. 3 overall pick in the draft.
The Patriots, who are averaging 12.4 points per game, have had instability along the offensive line, starting five different combinations in the first five games. Their receiving corps also entered Sunday with the fewest receptions and yards of any team in the NFL.
Specific to whether a quarterback switch would make a difference, Mayo deflected a question after Sunday’s loss about how much separation there is between Brissett and Maye.
“I don’t want to get into the separation talk,” Mayo said. “I will say Jacoby is out there trying to do what we’ve asked him to do from the start. He’s taking some big hits, and his toughness continues to show up. Execution from the entire offense has to be better going forward.”