Although the Buffalo Bills had a slow start in their divisional round matchup against the Denver Broncos, the final result could’ve been defined by a comeback victory for the visitors. Instead, a controversial interception call in overtime gave the hosts an advantage. Hours after the game ended, the NFL issued clarification from the league’s rules analyst, Walt Anderson, on NFL GameDay.

“As the receiver’s going to the ground, as soon as he hits the ground, the ball is immediately loose,” Anderson said. “That would be an incomplete pass if comes out and hits the ground. Here, the ball never hits the ground.”

The incident occurred with 7:55 remaining in overtime, with the game still tied at 30-30. As Allen threw a long pass from Buffalo’s 36-yard line towards the wide receiver Bradin Cooks, the ball was intercepted by Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian. Well, at least that was the final call.

In that play, Cooks leaped in the air, caught the ball loosely, and fell to the ground while still holding the ball. However, McMillan simultaneously covered Cooks closely and was able to take the ball away from the receiver’s hands, converting the ‘complete pass’ into an interception. But let’s break down various possible scenarios of this complicated incident:

• Complete pass: Cooks had the possession of the ball when his knee touched the ground, and that would’ve made this long catch a completion.
• Incomplete pass: Since Cooks held the ball loosely in his hands, it cannot be a confirmed possession. And so, if the ball had touched the ground when he fell, it would’ve been an incomplete pass. However, this didn’t occur, and so, it was certainly not an incomplete pass.
• Interception: According to the referees, the rules analyst, and consequently, the league, believed that McMillan snatched the ball out of Cooks’ possession before the ball could touch the ground and before it was a complete pass. Hence, it was an interception.

Referee Carl Cheffers also later explained the play to pool reporter Jeff Legwold.

“The receiver has to complete the process of a catch,” Cheffers said. “He was going to the ground as part of the process of the catch, and he lost possession of the ball when he hit the ground. The defender gained possession of it at that point. The defense is the one that completed the process of the catch, so the defender was awarded the ball.”

While everyone has a version of the ‘reality’ of this play, it did ultimately impact the Bills’ Super Bowl LX campaign.

If the call had gone Buffalo’s way, the Bills would have been in field-goal range to score three points to lead 33-30 and, probably, seal a win. Instead, it became quarterback Josh Allen’s second interception and the Bills’ fifth turnover of the game, something Allen knew wasn’t a winning formula.

“Losing that way, regardless, losing in the play-offs is not fun,” Josh Allen said in the presser.

As for the question on getting an explanation on the controversial interception call, his answer was simply: “No.”

Interestingly, a replay to review the play wasn’t exercised in this case, as it was in the Week 14 matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens. Then, a replay overturned the ruling of an interception when Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers seemingly failed to “survive the ground.”

NFL V.P. of instant replay Mark Butterworth explained that the offensive player had control of the ball while going down, and though a defensive player had a hand in there, the offensive player didn’t lose control of the ball. But while the reasoning was applied in that case to overturn a call, the league didn’t keep the consistency in Cooks’ case.

However, it wasn’t the team’s only mistake.

The Buffalo Bills shot themselves in the foot as McDermott disagreed with the officiating

For most of the regular season, the Bills became the second-half team. They would start a game slowly, gain momentum after halftime, and eventually come out of it with a win. That strategy didn’t work in the divisional round.

The Bills were able to score a touchdown in the first quarter, but failed to repeat in the second quarter. To make matters worse, the Broncos had two touchdowns in the second quarter alone, giving them an easy 20-10 lead entering the second half of the game. While the Bills made a comeback, they could only tie the game to force overtime.

So, even though the final ruling went in the home team’s favor, they could’ve completely avoided the situation to begin with. But Allen wasn’t the only one to wonder about the call. Head coach Sean McDermott, too, didn’t agree.

“It’s hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled,” McDermott continued. “In my eyes, it was. But even if it wasn’t, OK. Let’s just say that, and I’m being objective, even if it wasn’t, the players are owed. To me, ‘Hey, let’s stop it. Let’s slow it down. Let’s put the head referee and give him a chance to look at the monitor just to make sure. Just to make sure.'”

Before this controversial call, the Mile High witnessed an incredible battle between Bo Nix and Josh Allen. The reigning league MVP finished the game with 283 yards and three touchdowns, while Nix managed to put up 279 yards with three scores.

But unfortunately for the Broncos, the 25-year-old suffered a broken bone in his right ankle in their final drive. Now with the AFC Championship game up next, head coach Sean Payton issued an update on Bo Nix’s availability.

Sean Payton on Bo Nix’s ankle injury

The bone injury occurred on a designed run, one play before Nix threw a deep pass to Marvin Mims that drew a pass interference penalty, setting up Denver’s game-winning field goal.

After their thrilling 33-30 victory, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton returned to the podium after his initial post-game press conference to announce a crucial update about starting quarterback Bo Nix.

“Not good news,” Payton told reporters who were still in the media room. “On the second-to-last play in overtime, Bo fractured a bone in his right ankle. He’s scheduled to have surgery Tuesday of this week, which will put him out for the rest of the season.”

Backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham will replace Nix to start in the AFC Championship game next weekend. Stidham went 1-1 as a starter in 2023, and Denver fans will hope the 29-year-old continues this winning run and takes the Broncos to the Super Bowl.