Gene Steratore explains why Julio Jones TD was overturned
The Tennessee Titans were victims of a controversial replay decision in Sunday’s game that cost Julio Jones a ridiculous touchdown catch.
Jones made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone during the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. At first glance, he appeared to get both feet down, and the call on the field was a touchdown.
On review, however, the call on the field was overturned, and the pass was ruled incomplete. That did not sit well with the Titans’ Twitter account.
They overturned this. What do y'all think? https://t.co/9lS9nWIcGz
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) September 19, 2021
CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore explained why the call was overturned. Jones definitely got the toe of the second foot down in bounds, but in order for the call to stand, Jones needed to get his whole foot down in the green. The toe-tap rule does not apply, as more than Jones’ toe made contact with the ground.
Since Julio Jones' heel is coming down and fully lands on the ground, his entire foot must be in-bounds for the catch to count. If a WR "toe-taps" (ie – the Santonio Holmes catch in the Super Bowl), it counts as in-bounds. Replay concluded that Jones' heel landed out of bounds. pic.twitter.com/eePq3qQfWc
— Gene Steratore (@GeneSteratore) September 19, 2021
Even with that in mind, there is some confusion at the call being overturned. It was a touchdown on the field, and it wasn’t clear that there was anything definitive on replay to change that. The officials clearly saw things differently.
It’s confirmation that, even in 2021, it’s still hard to figure out what is and isn’t a catch in the NFL. It’s somewhat bizarre that catches like this count, but Jones’ did not.
