Sunday’s game between the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos included an officiating blunder so egregious that it seemed one of the referees felt compelled to apologize for it.
During the third quarter of the Wild Card matchup, the Denver Broncos defense appeared to commit an obvious holding penalty in the end zone that went uncalled.
Understandably, Bills quarterback Josh Allen was incensed by the missed call, as it forced his team to settle for a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown. It appeared the officials later acknowledged their error.
Following the missed penalty, cameras captured referee Bill Vinovich approaching the Buffalo bench to speak with Allen, seemingly to address the controversial play.
Bill Vinovich and Josh Allen having a chat pic.twitter.com/2LFbSXo6ua
— NFL on CBS
(@NFLonCBS) January 12, 2025
The exchange between the two appeared amicable, with Vinovich gesturing toward his chest in what looked like an apology. Allen responded with a friendly pat on the back, and as Vinovich walked away, he lightly tapped Allen’s helmet.
Needless to say, this interaction led to a lot of reactions from fans on social media.
The ref really just ran over to Josh Allen to apologize? This is RIGGED,” one fan wrote in a post on X.
“Ref going to the sideline to apologize to Allen?? Save that for after the game,” someone else said.
“Ref apologizing to Josh Allen on the sideline. I’ve never seen that before,” one fan wrote
“The ref apologizing to Josh Allen for missing the hold call is CRAZY,” another fan added.
“Did I just see a ref apologize to Josh Allen for missing a call!?” one fan added.
“Wait, an NFL ref went over to Allen and APOLOGIZED??” one fan added.
The incident was undeniably unusual. However, the mistake did not seem to affect the game’s outcome.The Bills dominated the Broncos for the remainder of the game, securing a commanding 31-7 victory to advance to the divisional round.
