Sometimes the truth comes from the offensive line, where holding happens every snap and nobody pretends otherwise. After the Buffalo Bills’ season ended 33-30 in overtime against the Denver Broncos, quarterback Josh Allen went silent. Head coach Sean McDermott erupted. And then Spencer Brown walked in and said something nobody expected.

“You can’t blame the officials,” Brown said about the late-game penalties Buffalo incurred. “I was holding the piss out of some people today, and they didn’t call it. There was a third down right before we kicked the field goal – I was holding Cooper hard, and they didn’t call that.”

Brown’s admission cut through the post-game finger-pointing with refreshing clarity. While acknowledging that the refs let the players battle all game, he also recognized Denver’s savvy late-game strategy. The Broncos drew two critical defensive pass interference penalties against Buffalo’s secondary in overtime: 47 yards that transformed a difficult situation into an easy field goal.

“They were letting the boys play, but that’s a well-coached team,” Brown admitted. “They knew where we were at and where they were at on the field. I think those passes were not really thrown to be caught. I think they were thrown to go out there and make us make a mistake and get a little help from the zebras. I thought they called a good game for the whole time. Those things are going to happen.”

The flags notably came against cornerback Tre’Davious White for 30 yards and nickelback Taron Johnson for 47 yards, placing Denver at Buffalo’s 8-yard line on their last drive. From there, kicker Wil Lutz drilled the game-winner, ending the Bills’ season. Brown credited the officials for consistency throughout the game, until circumstances changed in the final moments.

But while Spencer Brown offered a measured perspective on the defensive penalties, his quarterback and head coach focused their frustration elsewhere: the controversial overtime interception that preceded Denver’s winning drive.

Sean McDermott and Josh Allen on their last offensive stand

On a 3rd-and-11 from their own 36-yard line, Josh Allen fired a deep ball aiming for wide receiver Brandin Cooks. The play looked like a completion to Cooks, but the officials ruled it an interception by Ja’Quan McMillian after both players hit the ground. Had it been ruled a catch, Buffalo would’ve been in the field-goal range to win. Instead, Allen got hit with his second pick of the game and the team’s fifth turnover overall.

When asked if the officials explained the interception ruling, Allen’s response was a crisp “No.” He shouldered the blame for the turnovers and even noted that he let his squad down, while the lack of communication clearly stung, Sean McDermott took a harder line and questioned the legitimacy of that call.

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“You can not convince me that that was not a catch, Buffalo possession, ball at 20,” McDermott declared in a pool report after his postgame presser. “We’re not just going to sit here and take it. 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 handled differently. I don’t understand why the head official who is at the game does not get a chance to look at the same thing people in New York are ruling on.”

Catch, or no catch, the Bills now face another offseason processing playoff heartbreak. This loss to Denver marks Josh Allen’s seventh postseason exit. Whatever the case, Spencer Brown’s honest assessment has offered a veteran’s perspective: sometimes the other team just executes better when it matters the most.