What the NFL officials said about not allowing Bills’ fumble recovery against Colts
In the end, the call didn’t end up costing the Buffalo Bills, but it did leave a whole lot of NFL fans confused.
The Bills beat the Colts 27-24 in an AFC Wild Card game in Buffalo on Saturday but there were some tense moments late. Indianapolis had the ball near the end of the game and was driving.
But the rally seemed to end when the Colts’ Zach Pascal caught a pass as he went to the ground, got up and was stripped of the ball. The Bills recovered, but the officials ruled Pascal down.
Buffalo called timeout, hoping the officials would review this play and they did:
But the ruling on the field that Pascal was down stood. Fans watching at home were baffled, including Chiefs players.
Fox Sports’ Rules Analyst Mike Pereira thought it was a fumble:
Gene Steratore, CBS Sports’ Rules Analyst, thought so too:
And NBC Sports’ Terry McAulay was baffled, too:
What did the officials say? There was no pool report from the game, but Chris Brown, a reporter for the Bills website, talked with Buffalo safety Jordan Poyer.
Poyer said he “heard the refs thought it was a 50-50 situation.”
NFL Officiating tweeted this explanation: “The ruling on the field is that the runner was down by contact. The was no clear and obvious visual evidence to overturn the ruling, so it stands.”
No clear evidence? It’s fair to say those watching at home disagreed.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 4:18 PM.
