Did refs cost Rams the recreation? Controversial pass in…
DENVER — Did the Los Angeles Rams get hosed?
They actually have a case.
A controversial pass interference penalty against cornerback Josh Wallace erased what appeared to be a game-saving interception late in the Rams’ beautiful 30-26 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football, setting social media ablaze and even drawing disagreement from NBC guidelines analyst Terry McAulay.
With Denver trailing 26-23 and going through third-and-six from the Rams’ 11-yard line with 1:15 remaining, Bo Nix fired toward Pat Bryant close to the proper sideline. Wallace labored his method inside the receiver, grabbed the soccer with one arm and obtained a knee down for what appeared to be his second interception of the night time.
It ought to have been recreation over. The Rams got here to Mile High and walked away with a win.
Not so fast.
Denver Broncos huge receiver Jaylen Waddle, left, catches a landing pass against Los Angeles Rams cornerback Josh Wallace during the second half of an NFL soccer recreation Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Denver. AP Photo/David Zalubowski
A flag for defensive pass interference wiped away the turnover and gave Denver a contemporary set of downs on the five-yard-line. Replays appeared to show Bryant grabbing Wallace and pulling the cornerback toward him as the ball arrived. If something it might have been offensive pass interference.
McAulay wasn’t shopping for the referee’s call, either.
“I don’t see the defender do anything that significantly hinders the receiver,” McAulay said during NBC’s broadcast, noting Bryant appeared to pull Wallace toward him.
NBC guidelines analyst Terry McAulay didn’t imagine Rams CB Josh Wallace ought to have been flagged for pass interference, in what might have in any other case been an interception. The Broncos went on to rating what would serve as the game-winning TD. pic.twitter.com/A0YDJ8ZmZl— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 28, 2026
Needless to say, the web was significantly less diplomatic in their response.
“How is this a pass interference on the Rams??” NFL reporter Dov Kleiman wrote on X, claiming Denver had been “gifted” the call and calling the recreation “rigged.”
Another X person sarcastically handed referee Bill Vinovich the recreation ball.
“CONGRATULATIONS TO #NFL REF BILL VINOVICH AND THE #BRONCOS ON THE WIN TONIGHT VERSUS THE #RAMS,” the person wrote. “HELL OF A PERFORMANCE BY THEIR STAR PLAYER.”
Referee Bill Vinovich, middle, presents the coin during a pregame assembly prior to an NFL soccer recreation between the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Denver. AP Photo/Jack Dempsey
And our own New York Post star Adam Schein didn’t need a replay sales space, a rulebook or 280 characters to dance around what he noticed.
“That’s a terrible call. Awful,” Schein wrote. “Terry is right. That’s an interception. Rams got robbed here. Easy. Obvious.”
That’s a horrible call. Awful. Terry is true. That’s an interception. Rams obtained robbed right here. Easy. Obvious.— Adam Schein (@AdamSchein) September 28, 2026
There’s the phrase Rams followers will undoubtedly carry with them out of Denver: Rams obtained robbed.
Calling the recreation “rigged” goes too far. A controversial penalty — even one this consequential — isn’t evidence of some grand NFL conspiracy.
But saying the Rams obtained hosed on this specific call?
There’s a compelling case to be made for that.
NBC guidelines analyst Terry McAulay believed Wallace had performed nothing worthy of defensive pass interference, stating that Bryant appeared to grab the Rams cornerback and pull him inward as the soccer arrived.
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay leaves the discipline following an NFL soccer recreation against the Denver Broncos, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Denver. AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Had Wallace’s interception stood, Los Angeles might have taken possession with the lead and little more than a minute remaining.
Instead, a yellow flag grew to become Denver’s lifeline. As one Broncos reporter said, “this team has nine lives and then some.”
In equity, with or without the controversial call, it wasn’t the referees that blew a 16-0 halftime lead. They didn’t come out of the locker room torpid and enable back-to-back touchdowns and two-point conversions. The referees didn’t throw an NFL-record thirty third pick-six. The Rams managed that collapse all by themselves.
But just when Wallace appeared to rescue them from it in a second of redemption, one controversial call gave Denver another life.
And the Broncos used it to steal the recreation.
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