5. Emmanuel Sanders’ no-catch
This was one of the most bizarre plays of the game.
On a third-down play from deep in Broncos territory, Trevor Siemian fired deep downfield to a wide open Emmanuel Sanders, who bobbled the ball initially but appeared to gain control, run forward a couple of steps, and then have the ball dislodged as he was coming to the ground.
The ball allegedly hit the ground, and was not ruled a catch and fumble, but a completed catch with no fumble. The Bills immediately challenged the call on the field, and it was determined that Sanders didn’t complete the process of a catch.
Unfortunately, no one has posted the video of the catch on the internet at this point, or the NFL has taken all videos down.
It was an incredible error of judgment by the officiating headquarters, which now makes the final call in those situations.
At worst, the play should have been ruled a catch and fumble, which was recovered by Sanders, but not an incomplete pass. The NFL and its officials apparently have no idea what a catch is or isn’t these days, and thus — neither do we.
This was a critical call that was made even worse by an illegal procedure penalty on the following play, a punt. The penalty ended up costing the Broncos over 30 yards in field position, and the Bills at the time tied the game with a field goal on the next possession.
The Broncos’ offense was moving the ball through the air seemingly at will at this point, so for this play to have been ruled an incomplete pass was deflating and changed the course of the whole game.