Bills players and coaches joined their fans in scratching their heads following some puzzling officiating in a Week 14 overtime loss.
Despite a big second-half comeback in which they came back from a 24-3 halftime deficit to tie the game at 27 and go to overtime, Buffalo would ultimately fall to Tampa Bay 27-33.
One of the calls in question was pass interference flag thrown while CB Levi Wallace was defending a pass to Bucs WR Mike Evans during that overtime.
Tampa Bay was at its own 16-yard line, and the penalty gave them 19 more yards and a first down.
Several plays after that, Buccaneers wide receiver Breshad Perriman would win the game on a 58-yard touchdown.
So what went wrong with the play?
Wallace himself was looking to answer just that question after the game.
“I mean, I think it’s a bad call,” Wallace said while addressing the media. “I don’t know. You have to ask the ref. I think I played it as good as I could have.”
Here is the play in question so you can see for yourself:
the CBS broadcast temporarily broke itself because of how bad the pass interference call against Levi Wallace was in his coverage of Mike Evans pic.twitter.com/pDYaoDxzjl
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) December 13, 2021
One can clearly see that it is actually Evans making the contact, which former NFL referee turned NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay noted.
In fact, when Evans notices that Wallace’s head isn’t turning to the ball, he pulls the CB to him in order to draw the flag.
McAulay also references a third-and-2 play that took place with only 28 seconds left in regulation, in which Bills QB Josh Allen threw a TD toss to WR Stefon Diggs on the left side of the end zone. While it was ruled incomplete, Bucs CB Carlton Davis clearly got away with no-call pass interference.
This looks like the definition of pass interference. pic.twitter.com/ScwHdOVVpw
— National Football Post (@FootballPost) December 13, 2021
Given that the no-call on the Diggs play may have cost Buffalo the win, and that the miss-call on Wallace set up Tampa for what would be the game-winning score only a few plays later, it carries only more weight in the gravity of the loss.
“That’s something we gotta overcome,” head coach Sean McDermott said during his postgame press session.”At the end of the day, we have to overcome it because we can’t control it.”
While the HC declined to comment on the penalty specifically, he did speak to making the play itself.
“Underthrown balls are tough, “McDermott added. “We continue to try and teach it and make sure our technique is good. That is the part that we can control.”
When asked whether they felt those flags were going both ways in the game, safety’s Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer were not in the belief they did.
“I don’t know man,” Poyer said during their media availability.
The Bills will look to bounce back next week as they are set to host the Carolina Panthers.
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