By Jack Stewart
For the seventh season in a row, the Buffalo Bills’ season ends in a heartbreaking playoff loss. Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos bested the Bills in the divisional round with a 33-30 win in overtime. The narrative surrounding Josh Allen has centered on his inability to perform in the playoffs, and this game was an unfortunate continuation of that reputation. A fourth-quarter push by Allen and the offense forced overtime; however, a controversial fifth quarter allowed the Broncos to come out on top.
In the wake of another devastating loss, fans have begun reflecting on the game and the causes for Buffalo’s defeat. The general consensus, especially among Bills fans, has been about the officiating, which was undoubtedly controversial. In overtime, two specific calls have been at the center of this decisiveness, both of which swayed the game in Denver’s favor. The first was an interception ruling in which Broncos defender Ja’Quan McMillian stripped away a ball “caught” by Bills receiver Brandin Cooks. Video replay showed Cooks and McMillian fighting for the ball and Cooks securing possession with his knee on the grass. According to the rulebook, this would mean Cooks was down by contact and the play would be recorded as a reception for the Buffalo Bills; however, the officials instead decided this was an interception for the Broncos. The argument is that Cooks did not maintain possession of the football throughout the play, and McMillian took a bobbled ball out of Cooks’ hands. The second call was a pass interference on Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix threw a deep pass to receiver Marvin Mims Jr., and White was penalized for the contact. While there was slight interference, this was a soft penalty and a flag that’s not typically thrown at this stage in the game. From an objective standpoint these decisions were controversial, but Bills fans’ insistence on blaming the refs is less of a rational outcry and more so them searching for a scapegoat.
A key moment most Bills fans are glossing over is a huge missed holding call against the Bills in overtime. Before the eventual McMillian interception, Buffalo’s offense was backed up on their own goal line at the beginning of their overtime drive. Josh Allen dropped back into his own end zone, and offensive lineman Spencer Brown wrapped his arms around the neck of a Broncos defender to prevent a sack. This was an obvious holding penalty, and according to the rulebook, any holding penalty committed in a team’s own end zone is an automatic safety. If this holding and safety had been called, which it objectively should have been, the Bills would’ve lost in overtime 32-30 before the Cooks and McMillian controversy would have even had a chance to happen. This was an egregious miss from the officials that Buffalo fans have all looked over. The officials turned a blind eye to an obvious penalty, which saved the Bills’ season, and if anything, it’s arguable that the McMillian interception was a justified way to make up for that missed call to Denver.
All the outrage at the officials is a cover-up for the real cause of Buffalo’s loss, and that cause is one that Bills fans have a hard time admitting: Josh Allen. While Allen has completely flipped the narrative of this franchise and has almost single-handedly brought this team to the forefront of the NFL, it’s obvious that his performance in the game against the Broncos caused our loss. Throughout the entire season, Allen’s decision-making has regressed, and this trend continued into the postseason. His first interception was thrown at a key point in the third quarter in which Buffalo just forced a turnover and momentum began swinging in favor of the Bills. On a long second down, Allen hurled an underthrown ball directly into double coverage, which turned into an interception. This was an extremely poor decision from Allen and a bad read from an otherwise smart quarterback. His other extremely costly mistake, which is arguably what lost the game, was his fumble at the end of the first half. With sixteen seconds left on their own 30-yard line, the Bills offense tried to squeak one final drive out before the half. After a first-down pass play broke down, Allen escaped the pocket and scrambled for ten yards before fumbling the football. During the run, Allen extended his arm and the football away from his body into a Broncos defender. Denver linebacker Nik Bonito was able to easily hit Allen’s arm and force a fumble, which would eventually be recovered by the defense. This set up Denver in prime position to kick a field goal, taking a 20-10 lead as the first half expired. If this fumble never happened and the Broncos never had the chance to score before half, Matt Prater’s last-second overtime-forcing field goal would’ve given the Bills the win. Josh Allen has obviously been one of the greatest Bills and players in the NFL over his career; however, mistakes like this are inexcusable, and fans need to recognize when Allen deserves his justified criticism.
The fact of the matter is simple: the Bills had a negative four turnover differential. It’s impossible to win football games when a team turns over the ball as much as Buffalo did against the Broncos, and any fan complaining about the officiating is ignoring the real problem. Taking care of the football is a fundamental element of this sport, and when teams fail to do that, they lose. With how the Bills played, they honestly deserved to be blown out, and the fact that they even forced overtime to begin with is a miracle. While pinning the blame on the refs may make this devastating loss sting a little bit less, ignoring the real culprit only hurts the team more moving forward. As the long offseason approaches, all there is to do is hope that the Bills learned from this loss and can push on.