The Patriots thought they had scored a lead late in the fourth quarter of the loss to the Dolphins, but officials ruled that wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk was off his feet in the end zone.

Polk moved forward to pick off a pass from Jacoby Brissett at the back of the end zone and got a foot down along with the toes of his second foot. However, his heel went out of bounds and the Patriots would end up turning the ball over on downs.

After the game, NFL vice president George Stewart spoke with pool reporter Mike Reiss of ESPN.com about the call and explained the rule governing the play.

“The rule that was applied was the toe-heel rule,” Stewart said. “What happened was he had one foot down in the court and as he completed the second step his toe was in the court but his heel landed on the white line outside the court. So he was less than two yards in bounds at the end of the catch.”

Stewart noted that because of the nature of the play, it was different than a play where a receiver drags his toes before going out of bounds, and that difference cost the Patriots on Sunday.