Ball For Naught: Did Bad Call Impact Bills OT Loss to Vikings?

NFL officiating boss Walt Anderson claims that the Buffalo Bills' Sunday heartbreak should've come sooner rather than later.

The epic is over but even the epilogue of the Buffalo Bills' interconference thriller against the Minnesota Vikings, a 33-30 victory for the latter, features its own twists and turns.

The latest comes from the NFL's officiating boss Walt Anderson, who addressed one of the contest's most pivotal plays, namely Gabriel Davis' 20-yard reception with 17 seconds remaining. The diving grab, which Davis appeared to bobble in an attempt to secure the ball as he fell out of bounds, kept Buffalo's equalizing drive alive after Minnesota improbably tied the game on Josh Allen's fumble in the end zone in the final minute. 

To the surprise of many, no replay review was initiated by booth officials, allowing the desperate trek to continue. Tyler Bass necessitated the extra period with a 29-yard field goal three plays later before the Vikings prevailed in overtime, using a field goal of their own and another Allen turnover to secure the win. 

Officials didn't review this Gabe Davis catch 🧐https://t.co/vYTnTAU3AO

— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) November 13, 2022

Speaking with pool reporter Lindsay Jones, Anderson declared that the Bills' final drive of regulation should've been halted for a review, one that would've come from above Any review within the final two minutes of halves, as well as the entirety of overtime, can only come from the replay booth as coach's challenges are removed from consideration. 

Had that review occurred, Anderson said, the pass would've been rendered incomplete.

"We were able, several plays after, to look at all the angles. It would have been reversed to an incomplete pass because he did not maintain control of the ball after he hit the ground and the ball touched the ground out of bounds," Anderson said. "Even though it happens fast and Buffalo hurries to the line of scrimmage for the next play, if the replay official can’t confirm it was a catch on that long of a completed pass, we should stop play to ensure it is a catch."

Anderson did not have an explanation as to why play wasn't stopped, claiming he'd have to confer with the replay official stationed at Highmark Stadium. Had the review and ruling been staged, Buffalo (6-3) would've been stationed at its own 40-yard-line with the aforementioned 17 seconds left. Though the Bills rattled off two chunk-yardage plays after Davis' "catch" (a 15-yard pass to Isaiah McKenzie and Davis drawing a 14-yard pass interference flag), the reversed call would more than likely have forced Bass into a longer field goal. 

At the end of the day, Patrick Peterson's end zone interception of Allen in overtime more or less canceled out the erroneous protocol around Davis' drive extension. Minnesota (8-1) erased a 27-10 lead in the second half to earn its seventh victory in a row to linger just behind undefeated Philadelphia for the top seed in the NFC playoff bracket. 

Also clarified in Anderson's quotes were the status of both Kirk Cousins' failure to score on a one-yard punch-in at the cusp of the Buffalo goal line immediately before Allen's fumble (claiming that Cousins' shoulder was down before he extended the ball past the line) as well as the drop itself. Another replay review came after Allen downed the ball in his own end zone, that one to determine if it should've been a touchdown or a safety (the result if Buffalo had recovered the ball rather than Minnesota's Eric Kendricks).  

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags 

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