A pair of Week 7 games involved an obscure aspect of the catch rule. It’s so obscure that it’s not even in the official rulebook.
The official NFL rulebook states only that the player must get two feet down. It does not specify the manner in which the two feet must come down.
Approved Ruling 15.104 explains that if any part of the foot ends up out of bounds as part of a “normal motion of taking a step,” the pass is incomplete. This has been interpreted over the years to allow for the receiver to perform a toe-tap or toe-drag maneuver, even if the rest of his foot comes down out of bounds. If, however, he’s facing the field of play and catches the ball with his toes up and his heels land out of bounds, it’s no catch. Or if, similarly, the heel is down in bounds but the toe lands out of bounds, it’s no catch.
Enter Sunday. A touchdown catch by Seahawks receiver Jake Bobo and an impressive sideline grab by Rams receiver Puka Nacua involved neither a top-tap/drag (catch) nor a toe-heel (not a catch) maneuver. It also did not involve the “normal motion of taking a step.” Part of the foot landed in bounds and then, as the foot rolled, it ended up out of bounds.
In the Arizona-Seattle game, the ruling on the field was incomplete. A challenge from the Seahawks triggered replay review, resulting in a touchdown. In Pittsburgh-L.A., the Steelers challenged and the ruling was upheld.
The replay process, given the clarity of the video, presumably did not believe the rolling of the foot amounted to the “normal motion of taking a step.”
As long as it’s applied consistently, I’m fine with it. It’s a very specific outcome that rarely happens this way. Players have a specific way of getting their toes down. The Bobo and Nacua catches involved, by all appearance, the random landing of the foot in a manner that had the foot initially in bounds and then not. But there was no “taking a step” involved.
