Buffalo Bills fans have spent the hours following a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Denver Broncos searching for answers.
The officiating late in the game came under the national microscope as pundits and fans alike debated the validity of several crucial calls. Josh Allen was responsible for four of Buffalo’s five turnovers and assumed the full brunt of the blame inside a crestfallen locker room where tears flowed.
Allen just finished his eighth NFL season, and the Bills again fell short of the Super Bowl. Fans have begun discussing whether a change is needed this offseason to help the MVP quarterback finally reach the promised land.
Let’s dive into several of those conversations here and see if we can make some sense of where things should land.
Cooks, the refs, and McDermott’s ire
So, was it a catch or an interception?
Brandin Cooks came down with the ball and appeared to maintain possession before Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian ripped it away as he rolled through the tackle. In a pool report following the game, referee Carl Cheffers said the receiver must complete the catch.
“(Cooks) 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,” he said. “The defender gained possession of it at that point. The defender is the one that completed the process of the catch, do the defender was awarded the ball.”
The problem with that explanation is that even if Cooks lost possession as he made contact with the ground, it appeared he maintained possession for at least a moment before the defender took it away – a similar call back in December was ruled in favor of the offensive player.
Aaron Rodgers had a ball tipped and caught his own pass before a Ravens defender came in to rip it away. The officiating crew ruled it an interception, but the call was overturned on review. The NFL even defended that decision.
The biggest issue was the lack of transparency in the decision. The call was made, and then it was on to the next play. Bills coach Sean McDermott had to burn a timeout to try and get more information on why the call was made. NFL officiating spokesman Walt Anderson appeared on NFL Network on Sunday and explained that both the replay assistant at Empower Field and the one in New York confirmed the ruling.
NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci questioned Anderson about why Cheffers didn’t make an announcement for fans and viewers at home to understand the call. Anderson said the process is playing out as replay assistants review and communicate with Cheffers to determine a course of action. When Mariucci took issue with the lack of transparency, Anderson said: “If you can confirm the ruling on the field was correct, they want to move the game along.”
The need to rush the decision is what drew the ire of McDermott after the game. McDermott criticized the process after the game, speaking to reporters. Then he called Buffalo News reporter Jay Skurski directly to add even more thoughts on how it went down. Remember the situation: if Cooks makes that catch on the second drive of overtime, the Bills get the ball at the Denver 20-yard line, where a field goal wins the game.
“When I’m looking at the replay myself and I’m being objective and I’m saying, ‘you can not convince me that that was not a catch, Buffalo possession, ball at the 20,” he said. “I’m speaking up because I feel strongly that that was a catch and that possession should have been ball belongs to Buffalo. I can’t agree with their assessment of a change of possession or whatever the statement was. I can’t agree with that.”
“We’re not just going to sit here and take it, is what I’m saying. I’m pissed off about it, and I feel strongly as I’ve looked at it in review in my own locker that it’s a catch, possession Buffalo, and that the process should have been [long pause] … handled differently.”
The officiating performance as a whole was substandard. A missed holding call on Bills right tackle Spencer Brown could have resulted in a safety to end the game on Buffalo’s final OT drive.
Cooks appeared to be interfered with on what would have been a touchdown or a 1st and goal at the 1-yard line late in regulation. The Bills had to settle for a field goal to send the game to overtime.
Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White was called for a defensive pass interference that looked identical to the call that wasn’t made minutes earlier against Broncos cornerback Riley Moss.
Whenever officiating is a trending topic on social media after an important playoff game, the fans are the ultimate losers. Cooks has made several key plays for the Bills since signing in late November after getting his release from the New Orleans Saints. But he’s also had some bad drops. If he finds a way to hang onto the ball, the officials never come into play. He wished he made more plays to take some of the pressure off Allen.
Josh Allen deserves a large share of the blame
There is this notion among a portion of Bills fans that Allen’s greatness and ability to carry the Bills offense absolves him from responsibility when he plays poorly.
The hard truth about Saturday’s result is that Allen could have single-handedly changed the outcome. His four turnovers allowed the Broncos to maintain a lead, play from ahead, and cost Buffalo points. The fumble at the end of the second quarter was inexcusable. The Broncos were gifted a free three points before halftime and it ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.
Allen has to wear that loss last night more than any other player/coach/front office member. He spent all season talking about taking care of the football and how that equates to winning on the road – especially in the playoffs.
The Bills definitely need better receivers and that’s not debatable. But the receivers weren’t the problem last night. They made enough plays, as did Dalton Kincaid, James Cook, and Dawson Knox. Allen just needed to eliminate even just one of the turnovers. He couldn’t do it. That’s on him.
Brandon Beane’s role in all of this
There’s no singular figure who’s come more under fire for the latest Bills’ playoff failure than Beane. The general manager who drafted Allen back in 2018 has long been celebrated by Bills Mafia. He even earned the moniker “Big Baller Beane” for some of his wheeling and dealing on the trade market and in free agency over his tenure.
But when Beane went on a local sports radio show last May and scolded WGR 550 hosts Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase for their criticism of Beane’s approach at wide receiver, the relationship between the Bills GM and the fan base started to fracture.
Beane’s moves at receiver since trading away Stefon Diggs have been mostly duds. A high second-round pick on Keon Coleman has yielded little production. The polarizing pass catcher did have a big touchdown catch against the Broncos, but he’s only back on the field because of several injuries at the position. Coleman was a healthy scratch multiple times in December and he was benched for tardiness to team meetings twice during the season.
Free agent additions Curtis Samuel and Josh Palmer took turns providing inconsistent production. Neither player has been able to stay healthy and Palmer, Beane’s big swing at receiver in the offseason, ended the year on injured reserve.
The Bills have made it their operating procedure to rely on veteran players who know their system. That’s why Beane brought back safety Jordan Poyer, cornerback Tre’Davious White, receiver Gabe Davis, and cornerback Dane Jackson from playoff teams past. Some of the moves have paid off in a big way. Where would the Bills’ defense have been without Poyer and White this season? But Jackson allowed a touchdown to Marvin Mims on his one snap in relief of an injured White on the Broncos’ final drive. Sometimes it feels like history just keeps repeating itself.
Don’t get it twisted. Beane has pulled off some tremendous moves over his time in Buffalo. Christian Benford, James, Cook, O’Cyrus Torrence, Spencer Brown, Cole Bishop, Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, and Deone Walker are all Beane draft picks. The Stefon Diggs trade was transformational for the offense and Von Miller was a huge hit before the torn ACL changed everything.
The resources spent on the defensive side of the ball haven’t yielded the playoff results Beane’s been chasing. The Bills’ defense has allowed 32 points per game in their six playoff losses since 2019. Beane drafted four straight defensive players in last April’s draft. He signed three defensive linemen in free agency, including Joey Bosa, who was mostly invisible against the Broncos. All of those resources and the Bills barely affected Denver’s Bo Nix all game. Of the four teams that played on Saturday in the divisional round, the Bills ranked last in pressure rate and sacks.
Bosa was good for about half the season, but the plan was to keep him fresh for the playoffs. He’s missed significant time in most of the last three seasons, but the Bills played him nearly 60% of snaps this season – the second-highest mark for all Bills d-linemen.
Beane’s a good GM. The Michael Hoecht signing looked phenomenal before he tore his Achilles against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills just need to decide if the folks making the decisions are the right ones to get this team over the hump. McDermott and Allen have been together now for eight full seasons. No head coach-quarterback combination has ever won a Super Bowl if they didn’t do it in their first five seasons together.
The Bills can’t simply run things back with the same approach they’ve had the past two seasons. Changes in the process must occur, or ownership should think about finding someone else to steer the ship.