Broncos-Bills playoff game -- Stop blaming the refs

Well, that was a helluva Saturday afternoon football game in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs. The newly dominant number one seed Denver Broncos survived an overtime game, beating the solid Buffalo Bills, and being led by the calm, cool, and collected leadership of sophomore quarterback Bo Nix. And, then Broncos Country was dealt the devastating news that Nix broken a bone in his ankle on the second to last play of the game and will miss the rest of the season.

So many emotional storylines to follow in this game, and leading the charge is the slew of "controversial calls" by the referees that supposedly tilted the game in the Broncos favor and "cost the Bills a win."

And I have to say, "stop." 

I've never been a fan of trying to reduce entire games to one call or another. While I get the motivation, and in genuinely evenly matched games, there is obviously an inclination to argue that a game can come down to a single play -- like the interception in overtime when: Broncos cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian's overtime turnover of Bills receiver Brandin Cooks, ruled an interception because Cooks lost control of the ball upon hitting the ground, despite appearing to secure it initially. Referees, led by Carl Cheffers, explained that McMillian completed the "process of a catch" by gaining possession as Cooks went down, a ruling that angered Bills coach Sean McDermott and fans but was defended by rules analysts who noted Cooks didn't maintain control through the landing. (disclosure: this is Google's AI summation)

That call, along with a couple of defensive pass interference calls on the Broncos' game-winning drive are certainly a bit "suss," inviting scrutiny and complaints and argument and outrage (if you're a Bills fan)

 But we could do that all day long. For example, the game was arguably over earlier when the Bills should have been called for a safety after a blatant holding call in the end zone at the start of the Bills drive. The end zone judge couldn't have been more than a few feet away, and a Broncos player is literally held from behind and thrown to the ground in the end zone just as he's about to sack Josh Allen.

Games are filled with myriad plays that could go one way or another. And it's a game of human error ... and human achievement. Parsing all the plays with the idea that through replay and review and technology that we can eliminate the human element is simply silly. It's the antithesis to sport, and it brings nothing to the subject except our human need to vent and demand justice and perfection in an inherently imperfect world.

It was an incredible football game, and let's leave it at that.