One of the turning points in Sunday's AFC championship game was also arguably the most controversial.
The Buffalo Bills, facing a fourth-and-short while down by one point early in the fourth quarter, called a QB sneak for Josh Allen. Allen appeared to get past the line to gain amidst a slew of Kansas City Chiefs defenders but was pushed backwards by the end of the play and the ball was spotted short of the first down. The Bills' challenge and an overhead camera view appeared to show Allen clearly getting well past the marker, to the extent even CBS rules official Gene Steratore expressed his belief that Allen got the first. But the referees on the field didn't agree.
The call stood. The Bills turned the ball over. The Chiefs took advantage, scoring a touchdown shortly thereafter. And many fans already unhappy with the perceived favor KC receives from the refs made it clear they didn't think highly of this call, either.
Speaking after the game on the questionable play that swung the momentum of the contest, Bills head coach Sean McDermott was frank: he did not agree with how the sequence unfolded.
"I thought he had it,” McDermott said per Pro Football Talk. "Just short of the line was actually the first down, what it looked like to me when it was sitting next to me with the marker. Just inside that white stripe was the first down. And it looked like he got to it. That’s all I can say."
Buffalo, of course, had a few chances to win the game after that call. It wasn't the deciding factor. But it's undoubtedly one of the big "what-if" moments from another Chiefs-Bills title game decided by mere inches.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sean McDermott Had Frank Response to Questionable Call on Josh Allen Fourth Down Attempt.
