Ja'Quan McMillian's interception of Josh Allen in overtime on Saturday evening in Denver might end up the most controversial play of the 2025 season. No one seems to be able to find any consensus on whether it was a catch or not, but it was, correctly, I'll add, called an interception on the field. There appear to be two main groups of people in this conversation: football players saying it was an interception, and people who have never played saying it was a catch.
Regardless of what you believe the call to be, the fallout from the play has been nothing short of incredible. It directly led to the bills, dismissing head coach Sean McDermott, and propelled the Broncos to an AFC title game. The importance of that Call can only grow this week if the Broncos can secure another victory at home.
Conversations around the officiating have only seemed to continue into the week, and one major name entered his opinion into the conversation. Not only is he one of the best quarterbacks in football, but he’s also a former conference, champion and national champion quarterback. For good, bad, or indifferent, his opinion carries a ton of weight, and his thoughts emphatically support the Broncos.
Joe Burrow says the referees got the Ja'Quan McMillian interception call correct
In his first post on X/Twitter in quite some time, Burrow was more than clear with his stance on the officiating in both the Broncos victory over the Bills and the Rams victory over the Bears. McMillan's interception and Davante Adams' catch were somewhat similar plays, but were different enough that the ruling on both calls was different, yet correct.
The amount of ppl that don’t understand what a catch is in the rule book flabbergasts me. And it’s not the officials. The two plays yesterday were not difficult calls, and they got them both right.
— Joey Burrow (@JoeyB) January 19, 2026
The Broncos are off to the AFC Championship game, and apparently, Burrow believes that it was the right direction to go. Football fans still love to default to the "What is a catch?" argument, but this one is pretty cut and dry. Not only is it an obvious interception, but now one of the most decorated active quarterbacks in the sport throws his weight behind the call from the field.
Both franchises have already moved on from the call but in polar opposite directions. The Broncos and Jarrett Stidham are set to host this week's AFC Championship Game, while the Bills are jumping into the head coaching cycle after the top-two names on the market have already been hired. But don't forget: McMillian caught the ball, Brandin Cooks didn't.