In the NFL, wide receivers have to get two feet in bounds to record a catch. Despite a great effort from Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens on a potential touchdown catch in Week 8, tapping the same foot twice is not the same as getting both feet in bounds.
But maybe it should count as the same? That’s what Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio proposed on his podcast on October 29.
“Maybe they need to look at that rule. Maybe two feet, not both feet, two steps, not both feet. If you have it long enough to actually take two steps with the same leg, maybe that should be enough for it to be a catch,” suggested Florio.
The discussion on Florio’s show arose because of a unique situation involving Pickens in the Monday Night Football matchup against the New York Giants.
In the second quarter, the officiating crew initially ruled Pickens had caught a 9-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone. But with replay assist, the officials changed the call to incomplete because video showed Pickens tapped his right foot twice and didn’t get his left foot inbounds.
WR George Pickens Fails to Complete Process of NFL Catch
When the play happened live, it appeared Pickens had made a beautiful catch to snag the ball above two Giants defenders and keep control of it with only his hands. He also contorted his body to tap two feet inbounds.
But the replay cleared showed that the two feet Pickens had inbounds was actually the same foot twice. Under the NFL rules for what constitutes a catch, that made the attempt an incomplete pass.
To make the attempt a touchdown reception, Pickens needed to drag his left foot or tap it before any part of his body hit out of bounds.
It’s very unusual to see an NFL receiver tap the same foot twice inbounds without the other foot hitting the ground at all. But that’s exactly what happened to Pickens in the end zone versus the Giants.
While Florio lobbied for the league to consider making what Pickens did a legal catch, he concluded that under the league’s current catch rules, it’s the receiver’s responsibility to get “both” feet, not just “two” feet inbounds to record a reception.
“Look, it’s on [Pickens],” Florio said. “We’ve seen receivers with the presence of mind, and we marvel at it. Falling down, body contorted, that last foot hits and the little carcinogenic black pellets go flying up to help us see that the other foot hits.
“[Pickens] is a high-end professional athlete. He knows the rule. The second foot, the other foot, has to come down.”
Mike Tomlin Wasted Timeout Challenging Pickens’ Nullified TD
The Steelers had already kicked two field goals in the red zone before Pickens’ near touchdown in the second quarter during Week 8. Pickens appeared to give the Steelers a 6-point lead over the Giants, but then replay assist forced the Steelers into a fourth-down situation at the New York 9-yard line.
Seemingly out of frustration, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin threw a challenge flag to review Pickens’ overturned non-touchdown. But that only made matters worse.
The officials had already used replay assist to change the call on the field. Therefore, the play was no longer challengeable.
Throwing the challenge flag resulted in the Steelers losing a timeout.
Tomlin told reporters during his postgame press conference he was unaware the officiating crew altered their call on the field after using replay assist.
“I wasn’t really clear on why it was ruled a non-touchdown, so I went to the [challenge] flag,” Tomlin said to the media. “Had I know that they used replay assist, I wouldn’t have thrown [the challenge flag] because you’re not allowed to throw [the challenge flag] when they use replay assist.”
Fortunately, the loss of the timeout didn’t really hurt the Steelers. But Tomlin’s initial reaction to Pickens’ nullified touchdown was another example of how the Steelers head coach is sometimes impulsive with his challenge flags.
Before the 2024 campaign, Tomlin’s career success rate on challenges was ranked 23rd out of the 32 NFL head coaches from the 2023 season.
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NFL Insider Suggests Rule Change After Steelers’ George Pickens Nullified TD