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Sean McDermott furious after Ja'Quan McMillian interception (he's wrong)
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- Sean McDermott furious after Ja'Quan McMillian interception (he's wrong)
Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian grabbed a game-saving interception during a 33-30 overtime win against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs on Saturday.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw a deep pass to Brandin Cooks , who initially appeared to haul it in before McMillian took the ball away and completed the play for an interception. After that, Denver drove down and kicked a game-winning field goal.
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Buffalo coach Sean McDermott was clearly upset with the ruling after the game.
"It's hard for me to, and I've had a chance to look, it's hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled," McDermott said. "If it is ruled that way, then why wasn't it slowed down just to make sure that we have this right? That would have made a lot of sense to me to make sure that we have this thing right because that's a pivotal play in the game. We have the ball at the 20 [-yard line], maybe kicking a game-winning field goal right there, so I'll just leave it that. I'm saying it because I'm standing up for Buffalo, dammit. I'm standing up for us. What went on, that is not how it should go down in my estimation. These guys spend three hours out there playing football, pouring their guts out to not even say, 'Hey, let's just slow this thing down.' That's why I'm bothered."
McDermott believed Cooks completed the catch and was down by contact, but his main argument was that referee Carl Cheffers should have reviewed the play himself.
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"In my eyes, it was, yes," McDermott said when asked if he believed it was a Cooks catch. "In my eyes, it was. But even if it wasn't, OK. Let's just say that, and I'm being objective. Even if it wasn't, the players are owed, to me, 'Hey, let's stop it. Let's slow it down.' Let's put the head referee and give him a chance to look at the monitor just to make sure. Just to make sure."
Cheffers went and spoke to McDermott after the coach called a timeout.
"Carl came over and those guys were great," McDermott said. "They were great, and I said, 'Hey, what did you see?' and then quickly, somebody said, 'Hey, New York has confirmed. New York has confirmed.' From that point, it was a moot point. We were moving on."
Cheffers explained the ruling in a postgame pool report, noting that Cooks lost possession of the ball when he hit the ground, then McMillian completed the catch for an interception.
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Denver will now advance to host the AFC Championship game on Jan. 25, but they will do so without starting quarterback Bo Nix , who suffered a season-ending ankle injury during Saturday's win.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL news: Sean McDermott furious after Ja'Quan McMillian interception
