Gabe Davis runs after a catch in a game against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Buffalo Bills may have caught a lucky break in their last-ditch drive to tie Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings and force overtime.
Though the Bills ultimately lost the November 13 game in a 33-30 overtime thriller, they came close to averting disaster after they fumbled a snap on the goalline that the Vikings recovered for a touchdown with just 49 seconds remaining.
The Bills then marched down the field and into range for a game-tying field goal. But as a top NFL official reviewed after the game, one of the pivotal plays on that drive shouldn’t have counted.
Officials Admit Missed Call
As quarterback Josh Allen was leading the Bills down the field following Minnesota’s go-ahead touchdown, he found wide receiver Gabe Davis for a 20-yard reception that brought the Bills to the Vikings’ 40-yard line with 24 seconds remaining. Replay showed that Davis bobbled the ball while going to the ground, and a top NFL official admitted after the game that it should have been ruled incomplete and that booth officials should have initiated a review.
“It was a significant distance down the field,” Walt Anderson, the league’s senior vice president of officiating, said after the game, via NFL Media. “And 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.”
Officials didn’t review this Gabe Davis catch 🧐
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Anderson added that the officials in the booth did look at the play and determined that it was incomplete, but by then the Bills had already run another play and it was too late to go back.
“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.
Bills Benefit from Second Missed Call in Overtime
After the Bills were able to kick the game-tying field goal, the Vikings won the overtime coin toss and drove deep into Buffalo territory. After Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins completed a 24-yard pass to wide receiver Justin Jefferson to give them a first-and-goal on the Buffalo 2-yard line, the Bills stuffed running back Davin Cook for a three-yard loss.
But as ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported, the Bills’ defense had 12 players on the field for that play. Officials missed the penalty, and the Bills stopped the Vikings on each of the next two plays to force a field goal.
As Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said last night, the Bills had 12 players on the field when they stopped Dalvin Cook for a 3-yard loss in OT yesterday. O’Connell did say: “I know it’s moving pretty fast out there sometimes.”
While the Bills may have benefitted from two missed calls to stay in the game, it was ultimately their mistakes that led to the loss. Quarterback Josh Allen lost a fumble and threw two interceptions, including one in overtime that ended the game.
After the game, Allen took the blame for the miscues.
“Losing sucks. It sucks this way even more. Horrendous second half,” Allen said, via a report from The Associated Press’ John Wawrow. “It comes down to my shoulders and my shoulders only. Making the right decisions, making the right throws. This one’s going to suck, watching it.”