NFL GAME DAY DISCUSSION AFCDG: Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos

[RobertWeathers]

I hated the refs getting involved at the end. This was otherwise an absolute thriller of a game.

I thought it was gross. If the NFL is concerned about a quality product they would have let those tick-tack calls go. Just bad officiating.

....and I'm still struggling with the Cooks catch/INT. I understand the rule but do not agree with it. If I'm a Bills fan this is a "Tuck Rule" scenario

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I thought it was gross. If the NFL is concerned about a quality product they would have let those tick-tack calls go. Just bad officiating.

....and I'm still struggling with the Cooks catch/INT. I understand the rule but do not agree with it. If I'm a Bills fan this is a "Tuck Rule" scenario

I agree. The Bills got hosed, but how many games does any team win after committing 5 turnovers? So I don't feel really bad for the Bills.

 

[Pape]

I agree. The Bills got hosed, but how many games does any team win after committing 5 turnovers? So I don't feel really bad the Bills.

Denver scored on 4 of the 5 turnovers... while the refs were not good, the t/o's were the key to the game, esp in light of Buffalos domination of top...

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

 

[Lansdowne]

Wow just watched the Bills/Broncos replay after work. That interference call at the end I think was bogus. I really wanted Buffalo if we win Sunday. When I logged on patsfans i saw a headline Bo Nix is out!? OMG Pats are in the Super Bowl!! ---IF --we win against the Texans of course.

If you mean the last one that put the Broncos in FG position to win the game, Tre’Davious White tackled Marvin Mims before the ball even got there. It was the correct call. White got away with DPI that didn’t get called when covering Mack Hollins back in Week 15. Same game that Marcus Jones caught an interception defending Khalil Shakir but it was ruled pass interference instead. Hard for me to have any sympathy for the Bills when they were huge benefactors of bogus officiating like that. What goes around comes around.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I agree. The Bills got hosed, but how many games does any team win after committing 5 turnovers? So I don't feel really bad for the Bills.

Yep. They don't turn the ball over 5 times they win.

 

[Ross12]

I thought it was gross. If the NFL is concerned about a quality product they would have let those tick-tack calls go. Just bad officiating.

....and I'm still struggling with the Cooks catch/INT. I understand the rule but do not agree with it. If I'm a Bills fan this is a "Tuck Rule" scenario

Respectfully, I don’t understand how people are having a problem with the INT.

Pretend there was no DB in the area. Cooks goes up for the catch. He catches it for a moment but when he hits the ground he loses control and it falls out of his hands and flies up into the air. Presumably it would eventually hit the ground. That would be an incomplete pass, because he did not survive the ground. We all agree, right?

This is the same exact thing; the only difference is that when he lost control of the ball when he hit the ground, there was a DB right next to him who then took the live ball himself.

The ball never became an incomplete pass because it never touched the ground, and it never became a completed pass for the offense because the receiver did not maintain control through hitting the ground with his body. It was an INT because the ball landed with the DB who maintained control through the ground.

Everyone is forgetting the whole “maintain control” aspect of catching a pass. The receiver can’t just have it for a fraction of a second with his knee down for it to be complete. It needs to complete the entire process.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I had forgotten about that.

Yep- Karma

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

I thought it was gross. If the NFL is concerned about a quality product they would have let those tick-tack calls go. Just bad officiating.

....and I'm still struggling with the Cooks catch/INT. I understand the rule but do not agree with it. If I'm a Bills fan this is a "Tuck Rule" scenario

I'd care more about the Bills' plight if they were upset at all with that heinous refball that helped them win in Foxboro last month.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Respectfully, I don’t understand how people are having a problem with the INT.

Pretend there was no DB in the area. Cooks goes up for the catch. He catches it for a moment but when he hits the ground he loses control and it falls out of his hands and flies up into the air. Presumably it would eventually hit the ground. That would be an incomplete pass, because he did not survive the ground. We all agree, right?

This is the same exact thing; the only difference is that when he lost control of the ball when he hit the ground, there was a DB right next to him who then took the live ball himself.

The ball never became an incomplete pass because it never touched the ground, and it never became a completed pass for the offense because the receiver did not maintain control through hitting the ground with his body. It was an INT because the ball landed with the DB who maintained control through the ground.

Everyone is forgetting the whole “maintain control” aspect of catching a pass. The receiver can’t just have it for a fraction of a second with his knee down for it to be complete. It needs to complete the entire process.

I agree with everything you've said except I haven't seen video evidence of him losing control.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

No flaming necessary.
He plays for our rival, but he's a great player and seems like a genuinely good person.
I have no hate foe Josh, and feel bad for him.
I stopped cheering for the failures of others many years ago.

This. Buffalo requires him to be lights out week in week out to win. He was last week but he can’t do this 4x in a row against the leagues elite. They can’t expect that

That all said his wife might wanna stfu about afc east teams from here

 

[TommyD4207]

Respectfully, I don’t understand how people are having a problem with the INT.

Pretend there was no DB in the area. Cooks goes up for the catch. He catches it for a moment but when he hits the ground he loses control and it falls out of his hands and flies up into the air. Presumably it would eventually hit the ground. That would be an incomplete pass, because he did not survive the ground. We all agree, right?

This is the same exact thing; the only difference is that when he lost control of the ball when he hit the ground, there was a DB right next to him who then took the live ball himself.

The ball never became an incomplete pass because it never touched the ground, and it never became a completed pass for the offense because the receiver did not maintain control through hitting the ground with his body. It was an INT because the ball landed with the DB who maintained control through the ground.

Everyone is forgetting the whole “maintain control” aspect of catching a pass. The receiver can’t just have it for a fraction of a second with his knee down for it to be complete. It needs to complete the entire process.

I'm with you, it was a pretty clear interception. Cooks never had control of it, and the ball never hit the ground.

 

[Ross12]

1. The refs missed a DPI call on Denver vs Cooks in the end zone

2. The DPI call on Buffalo vs Sutton was somewhat bogus when you consider they didn’t call the one on Cooks. However, there was also a Roughing the Passer call on the same play which was declined and was perfectly valid. So even if the refs held this DPI flag in their pockets, the RTP call would’ve advanced the ball roughly the same amount anyway. Therefore this DPI call is basically a wash.

3. The last DPI vs Mims is not debatable. The defensive back clearly committed obvious interference because he knew drawing a flag was better than giving up an instant game-losing TD there. He knew he was beaten badly, the only way to stop the play was to hit the guy. Give up a penalty and live to fight another few downs.

So overall the Bills were not impacted by poor officiating at all. The first two DPI calls/non-calls are a non-factor when considering the overlapping Roughing the Passer call, and the final DPI call is very clear and seemingly intentional.

 

[TommyD4207]

1. The refs missed a DPI call on Denver vs Cooks in the end zone

2. The DPI call on Buffalo vs Sutton was somewhat bogus when you consider they didn’t call the one on Cooks. However, there was also a Roughing the Passer call on the same play which was declined and was perfectly valid. So even if the refs held this DPI in, the RTP call would’ve advanced the ball roughly the same amount anyway. Therefore this DPI call is basically a wash.

3. The last DPI vs Mims is not debatable. The defensive back clearly committed obvious interference because he knew drawing a flag was better than giving up an instant game-losing TD there. He knew he was beaten badly, the only way to stop the play was the hit the guy. Give up a penalty and live to fight another few downs.

So overall the Bills were not impacted by poor officiating at all. The first two DPI calls/non-calls are a non-factor when considering the overlapping Roughing the Passer call, and the final DPI call is very clear and seemingly intentional.

I'll push back on that one - that ball was uncatchable, and the contact was pretty ticky-tack anyway.

 

[Real fan 02]

He ripped maye for having 2 to’s last week, wonder what he’ll hafta say about Allen’s 4 turnovers today. Then again doubt you hear from him at all since he’ll probably just disappear until its convenient to show up here

Oh yeah patsy.. he only shows up whenever we lose. He cherry picks whenever he wants to post. He claimed our defense was on the only reason we won.. ignoring the fact Drake is an all pro and is the best QB left in the postseason...

 

[Real fan 02]

1. The refs missed a DPI call on Denver vs Cooks in the end zone

2. The DPI call on Buffalo vs Sutton was somewhat bogus when you consider they didn’t call the one on Cooks. However, there was also a Roughing the Passer call on the same play which was declined and was perfectly valid. So even if the refs held this DPI flag in their pockets, the RTP call would’ve advanced the ball roughly the same amount anyway. Therefore this DPI call is basically a wash.

3. The last DPI vs Mims is not debatable. The defensive back clearly committed obvious interference because he knew drawing a flag was better than giving up an instant game-losing TD there. He knew he was beaten badly, the only way to stop the play was to hit the guy. Give up a penalty and live to fight another few downs.

So overall the Bills were not impacted by poor officiating at all. The first two DPI calls/non-calls are a non-factor when considering the overlapping Roughing the Passer call, and the final DPI call is very clear and seemingly intentional.

The very last play on the bills defensive series obvious pass interference on white.. Stevie Wonder could have seen that. I will maintain that Allen contributed with 4TOS but the bills defense in the end was what lost the game. Bills still scored 30 points.

 

[Ross12]

I'll push back on that one - that ball was uncatchable, and the contact was pretty ticky-tack anyway.

On another note - the Bills committed egregious holding in their own end zone on their first OT possession which was not called. That should have been a safety, which would have ended the game. If the refs were “out to get them” somehow, why did they hold that one in?

 

[TommyD4207]

The very last play on the bills defensive series obvious pass interference on white.. Stevie Wonder could have seen that. I will maintain that Allen contributed with 4TOS but the bills defense in the end was what lost the game. Bills still scored 30 points.

The Bills defense lost it because they were on the field the entire game - thanks to the 5 turnovers - in the altitude. They were completely gassed in the 4th quarter/overtime. Payton couldn't get anything going on offense (Tunnel Screen #12 went for -2 again), so he just decided to PI bait, because it was the only way they could move the ball.

 

[Ross12]

The Bills defense lost it because they were on the field the entire game - thanks to the 5 turnovers - in the altitude. They were completely gassed in the 4th quarter/overtime. Payton couldn't get anything going on offense (Tunnel Screen #12 went for -2 again), so he just decided to PI bait, because it was the only way they could move the ball.

Credit to the Buffalo defense - considering how hard they were playing, the altitude, and the time of possession, I expected them to be gassed by the early 4th quarter. But they really didn’t get gassed until OT. They held up for the entire regulation time which is impressive conditioning for the environment. That reflects well on the coaching staff.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

0-7 in overtime total. 4 losses in the regular season, 3 losses in the postseason. They call him “King of the Choke”, or alternatively, “Mr. Unclutch”.

What I find the most hilarious is that they changed the overtime rules for him specifically and he still can't win. Reminds me of the old Manning-led Colts.