Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — If not for the “toe-heel” rule, the New England Patriots may need had their second win of the season Sunday.
Instead, they misplaced 15-10 to the visiting Miami Dolphins after rookie receiver Ja'Lynn Polk's 12-yard landing catch with 1:08 remaining was overturned after instant-replay evaluation.
Polk leaped in the air underneath the objective posts to corral a move from quarterback Jacoby Brissett, along with his momentum carrying him towards the finish line. Polk's left foot got here down in the finish zone, as did his right toe, however his right heel landed out of bounds.
“The rule that was applied was the ‘toe-heel' rule,” NFL vp of officiating George Stewart mentioned 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 parts of the play have been important in overturning the unique name, Stewart mentioned: “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 officers.
“It was close, but it was the correct call in my opinion,” Mayo mentioned.
The Patriots had two extra performs after the overturned name to doubtlessly rating. Then after the protection stopped the Dolphins to provide the Patriots the ball again at their very own 43-yard line with 29 seconds remaining and no timeouts, a closing desperation drive ended at the Dolphins' 11-yard line.
Polk, a second-round choose from Washington, lamented that the Patriots have been in that place as a result of the offense was stagnant for prolonged stretches and the workforce totaled 12 penalties for 104 yards.
Brissett, who completed 18-of-34 for 160 yards, did not hit 100 yards passing till the fourth quarter.
The Patriots have misplaced 4 straight video games since opening the season with a 16-10 highway win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Mayo mentioned final week that even in the Week 1 win over the Bengals, the lack of offensive firepower was “unsustainable,” which sparks a query of how shut he is perhaps to turning to rookie quarterback Drake Maye, the No. 3 general choose in the draft.
The Patriots, who're averaging 12.4 factors per recreation, have had instability alongside the offensive line, beginning 5 completely different mixtures in the first 5 video games. Their receiving corps additionally entered Sunday with the fewest receptions and yards of any workforce in the NFL.
Specific as to if a quarterback change would make a distinction, Mayo deflected a query after Sunday's loss about how a lot separation there's between Brissett and Maye.
“I don't want to get into the separation talk,” Mayo mentioned. “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.”
