Buffalo Bills cornerback Levi Wallace was called for pass interference in overtime on a pass intended for Tampa Bay's Mike Evans.
The penalty, at the Buccaneers' 16-yard line, went for 19 yards and set up Tampa Bay with a first-and-10 at their own 35-yard line.
Three plays later, Tampa Bay was in the end zone after a game-winning, 58-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Breshad Perriman.
After clearing his throat when asked about the call in the postgame news conference, Wallace said, "I mean, I think it’s a bad call. I don’t know. You have to ask the ref. I think I played it as good as I could have."
the CBS broadcast temporarily broke itself because of how bad the pass interference call against Levi Wallace was in his coverage of Mike Evans pic.twitter.com/pDYaoDxzjl
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) December 13, 2021
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Former longtime NFL refereee Terry McAulay, who works as the rules analyst for Sunday Night Football on NBC, agreed with Wallace's view via Twitter. The third-and-2 play he referenced involved interference not being called against the Bucs' Carlton Davis for contact with Stefon Diggs.
This is not defensive pass interference. The receiver creates the contact. It is especially noteworthy given what was not called late in regulation on the Buffalo 3rd & 2 play. https://t.co/jQpWye03IO
— Terry McAulay (@SNFRules) December 13, 2021
The first question to Bills coach Sean McDermott was about the call.
"That’s something we gotta overcome," McDermott said, declining to comment specifically on the call. "At the end of the day we have to overcome it because we can’t control it."
Asked what Wallace was supposed to do in that situation, McDermott said, “Underthrown balls are tough. We continue to try and teach it and make sure our technique is good. That is the part that we can control.”
