“We go by what the officials call” is what Bills coach Sean McDermott said Dec. 15 — a day after Buffalo defeated the New England Patriots in a game that featured a controversial defensive pass interference call on third down that ultimately led to James Cook scoring the game-winning touchdown.
Fast forward a month later, McDermott ripped the officiating following Buffalo’s AFC Division game loss to the Broncos after a controversial call in overtime led to Denver’s game-winning field goal.
On third-and-11 from the Bills’ 36-yard line, Josh Allen threw a deep ball to Brandin Cooks, who looked to have hauled in the pass. Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian came up with the ball after the two rolled around on the field, though, and the officials ruled it was an interception.
“It’s hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled,” McDermott told reporters after the game. “And if it is ruled that way, then why wasn’t it slowed down just to make sure that we have this right. That would have made a lot of sense to me — to make sure we have this thing right. Because that’s a pivotal play in the game. We (would have had) the ball at the 20, maybe kicking a game-winning field goal right there.”
You can view the play in question here
McDermott called timeout after the play and wanted the officiating crew to take a closer look. Throwing a challenge flag was not an option for the Bills coach.
“It would seem logical to me and make a lot of sense that the head official would walk over and want to go and take a look at it. Just to make sure that everybody from here who is in the stadium, to there are on the same page,” McDermott said. “That’s too big of a play, in my estimation, too big of a play in a play that decided the game, potentially as well, to not even slow it down. That’s why I had to call the timeout. It’s not what I wanted to do, but I had to do it in order to make sure that I understood what was going on and that they did take a look at it.”
McDermott’s anger didn’t disappear after getting the team plane back to Buffalo. The coach reached out to the Buffalo News’ pool reporter Jay Skurski to continue to discuss the play.
“That play is not even close. That’s a catch all the way. I sat in my locker and I looked at it probably 20 times, and nobody can convince me that that ball is not caught and in possession of Buffalo,” he said. “I just have no idea how the NFL handed it, in particular, the way that they did. I think the players and the fans deserve an explanation, you know?”
In a separate pool report, official Carl Cheffers said Cooks lost possession of the ball as he went to the ground.
McDermott is part of the NFL’s competition committee. With how heated he was postgame, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a proposal for a rule change this offseason.