The Bills took advantage of an unwritten rule in which NFL officials seemingly never call pass interference on Hail Mary plays at the end of games to finalize their victory over the Buccaneers on “Thursday Night Football.”
After quarterback Baker Mayfield unleashed a rocket that traveled more than 60 yards in the air, Bills defenders Taylor Rapp and Christian Benford mugged Bucs tight end Cade Otton right in front of the end zone.
As is nearly always the case in these end-of-game situations, the contact went un-flagged by the officials and time expired.
The Bills escaped with a 24-18 victory.
“You could call penalties on a bunch of guys here if you really wanted to,” Amazon play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels said upon watching a replay.
Mayfield was diplomatic about the missed call that would have given the Buccaneers an untimed down at the one-yard line.
“Looked like a bunch of guys landing on the ground over there,” the quarterback told reporters after the game. “I’m not sure who tripped over who.”
Bucs wideout Chris Godwin had a chance to catch the ball but did not get his eyes on it fast enough.
“They had a guy pressed on me,” Godwin said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “I had to avoid him, so I’m a little late to the party. So when I get there, I just tried to look up and find the way. I wasn’t sure whether he grabbed me or not, but by the time I got my head around I saw the ball coming in low.”
ProFootballTalk founder Mike Florio is of the belief that the NFL should not throw out the letter of the rule book and should start calling pass interference on these types of Hail Mary plays.
“They SHOULD have called penalties on Rapp and Benford, and the Bucs should have had an untimed down from the doorstep of the end zone for a chance at a walk-off win,” Florio wrote.
“And, yes, this is another area where the league had better get its act together while otherwise in the act of cramming gambling dollars into every possible place that dollars can be crammed. The Bucs got screwed out of a chance to win the game because, for whatever reason, the NFL chooses to ignore blatant pass interference on desperation throws to the end zone.”