Josh Wallace should not have been called for pass interference on Sunday night in Denver.
That’s what Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay said he was told by the league in the wake of their 30-26 loss to the Broncos, which was partially decided by the penalty on Wallace in the final minutes of that contest.
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Wallace appeared to intercept a pass from Broncos quarterback Bo Nix late on Sunday, but he was instead called for pass interference. That negated the interception and set up a first-and-goal for the Broncos, which eventually led to their go-ahead touchdown and the SCORE win.
While it looked as if Wallace committed the penalty in real time, a closer look undoubtedly put that call into question. Even NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay thought it shouldn’t have been called.
Had Wallace been granted the interception, the Rams would have gotten the ball back on their own 8-yard line leading 26-23 with 69 seconds left in the game. The Broncos did have three timeouts still, and could have gotten the ball back, but the interception would have absolutely put the Rams in position to seal the game.
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Instead, the Broncos scored and held on to grab the win.
“[It] doesn’t really matter,” McVay said about the call on Monday. “It is what it is. That was the call that was made and there was a lot of opportunities that we had to be able to close the door on that game. … But I wouldn’t have any additional coaching points for how Josh [Wallace] plays through the cycle of the snap. But I’m not going to make excuses either and we’re not going to play the victim card.”
Though McVay was the one who revealed that the league told him it shouldn’t have been called, his comments from Monday still stand. As it is several days later, the penalty stands as called. The Rams lost the game, and fell to 1-2 on the season.
The errant call, as the league or officials didn’t step in to reverse it in real time, stands and the season moves on.
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