Josh Allen
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The Bills have hired Bo Hardegree to come work with Josh Allen as their new quarterbacks coach
The Buffalo Bills saw their season end in heartbreak — and controversy — when quarterback Josh Allen threw an overtime interception that led to the game-winning score in the divisional round loss to the Denver Broncos.
The play attracted considerable controversy when it appeared to many that Bills receiver Brandin Cooks came down with the ball first, before having it ripped from his hands by cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian.
The controversy endured after the loss, and now the league has admitted a mistake in another big game that sheds more light on the call against the Bills.
NFL Ruling Recalls Crushing Overtime Interception
As Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith reported, NFL Executive VP of Football Operations Troy Vincent said this week that the league made some critical mistakes in a regular season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. As the report noted, one of those plays was nearly identical to Allen’s overtime interception.
In the play Vincent mentioned, the Ravens deflected a pass and Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers initially came down with it, but Ravens linebacker Teddye Buchanan tore it from his hands. The play was initially ruled an interception, but overturned on review and ruled a catch for Rodgers.
Many Bills fans pointed to that play as the example of how Allen’s interception should have been ruled — a catch for Cooks, who was then down by contact inside field goal range.
As Pro Football Talk reported, the NFL admitted the call against the Steelers was wrong — and the one against the Bills was correct.
“Now that the league office has had time to carefully scrutinize the play, PFT is told that the Rodgers play should have been ruled the same way as the Bills’ interception in overtime of their playoff loss to the Broncos,” Smith wrote. “On that play, Bills receiver Brandin Cooks did have the ball as he went to the ground, but he did not complete the process of the catch by maintaining possession on the ground. Denver’s Ja’Quan McMillian snatched the ball away from Cooks and secured the interception, just as Buchanan snatched the ball away from Rodgers and secured the interception.”
Bills Players Upset About Call Against Them
Some Bills players spoke out about their controversial play at the time, with Cooks saying he believed he had possession of the ball and was down before McMillian tore it away.
He was more upset that the officials didn’t take time to more thoroughly review the play.
“At the end of the day, it was a catch, not just what it looked like, but what it felt like,” Cooks said on “Good Morning Football.” “When you look back at it, the time that was spent on it to review it wasn’t enough. Given the magnitude of that game and the situation, it’s a little disappointing.”
The league’s admission about getting the Steelers call wrong still fails to address the complaint from many Bills fans and players, that the league is not consistent in how it calls possession on catches.