clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Rams vs. Dolphins: Sam Bradford saved by the return of the tuck rule

Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams occasion the return of everyone's least favorite NFL rule.

Mike Ehrmann - Getty Images

The tuck rule—the infield fly rule of the NFL—was back on TV Sunday, and like its baseball brother it had us to thank for its big comeback. The St. Louis Rams caught a break when Sam Bradford, who appeared to fumble the ball in the third quarter, was said instead to have failed to tuck the ball; the end result was an incomplete pass and the chance to punt. Here's a look at the play, in case you forgot how granular this play was in the ensuing 10 years.

Bradford's had an ostensibly solid game through three quarters, but it's been subverted by the team's complete inability to convert on third down. Bradford, Steven Jackson, and Daryl Richardson have all been chewing up yards, but it hasn't turned into touchdowns so far; it's only even turned into field goals twice, thanks to some surprising misses from Greg Zuerlein.

Here, though, he did execute—exactly enough to make sure we remembered this rule existed, instead of giving up the ball deep inside his own territory. Pete Kozma, bounding backward toward Matt Holliday, couldn't have done it any better.