Sunday Night Football is always the craziest night of all, but it could turn out to be unfair for some, while being a fortune for others. This one instance is what made the Los Angeles Rams lose 30-26 while the Denver Broncos and star Bo Nix celebrated the officials’ let-off.
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“We completed a few passes, and we got down here close, and we knew we had three points. And so it’s one of those moments where you don’t want to put the ball in harm’s way, but at the same time you want to score,” quarterback Nix said on the field, per NBC. “So we got the ball up to the end zone a few times, and we were fortunate with a couple of interference penalties, and it got to the goal line, and we just punched it in.”
The fortunate incident that Nix is talking about here happened with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter. The Broncos were initially trailing 26-23, and Nix, who completed just 17 of 34 passes for 186 yards, didn’t have the best night in accuracy, but had the urgency to help his team score a touchdown. This urgency saw Nix throw to receiver Pat Bryant while being on the Rams’ 11-yard line.
Covering Bryant was Rams cornerback Josh Wallace, who had worked his way inside Bryant and intercepted the ball. While Wallace celebrated the interception, a penalty flag was raised, calling it defensive pass interference instead. But after the replay was shown again, Bryant was seen pulling Wallace near him, and both fell in the end zone. NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay immediately called out the wrong decision during the broadcast.
“As we get towards the end, we actually see the receiver grab the defender and pull in on him,” McAulay said. “I don’t see the defender do anything that significantly hinders the receiver on this play. Even the first part. There’s just hands on him; he doesn’t do anything with them.”
Had this been an interception, the Rams would have gotten the ball near their end zone; instead, the Broncos got a first down, and it took Bo Nix and the Broncos a few plays before Nix scored on a one-yard touchdown run. The Rams did try to have a quick drive, but star Matthew Stafford got picked off in what would be the final play of the game. Rams head coach Sean McVay, who reportedly ducked out on the press conference, had a little talk about the loss.
“Yeah, it’s tough. But this is sports; you sign up for all of it,” McVay told the reporters. “Love our group, just came up short. Give the Broncos credit; they found a way to get it done. We look at ourselves and figure out how we can improve.”
The Rams nerfed Nix for most of the Sunday before the controversial call took place, with Nix also having an interception to his name. The call got increasingly more of a talking point as the fans saw the replays of it, with one of the legends of the league also calling it out.
“That was not PI?!!! That was an INT!!! This stuff is so ridiculous sometimes. So hard to play defense in this league,” five-time All-Pro Richard Sherman wrote on X.
Even Adam Rittenberg of ESPN agreed with the call being wrong, writing, “Terrible P.I. call on the Rams. Should have been an excellent interception.”
With the Broncos getting away with a sneaky win, they improved their record to 2-1, while the Rams now stand at 1-2. The Rams (1-2) will next face a tough opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles. On the other hand, the Broncos will also face the injury-plagued but undefeated San Francisco 49ers, with both games coming Sunday, October 4.