NFL admits the referees favored Broncos in win over the Rams

The Los Angeles Rams already knew the final minutes of their loss to Denver Broncos had turned on one controversial flag. What they learned afterward was that the league agreed with them.

Coach Sean McVay said the NFL told the Rams that Josh Wallace shouldn't have been called for defensive pass interference on a late fourth-quarter play that erased his interception and kept the Broncos’ game-winning drive alive.

“They agreed with me,” McVay said Wednesday. The sequence came with Los Angeles leading 26-23 and Denver facing third-and-6 in the red zone.

Bo Nix threw toward Pat Bryant near the right sideline, and Wallace appeared to come down with the interception. Then came the flag.

Call completely changed the final minute

The penalty wiped out Wallace ’s interception and gave Denver a fresh set of downs.

Six plays later, Nix scored to put the Broncos ahead 30-26 with 47 seconds remaining. The Rams got the ball back but could not produce a final answer.

The frustration around the call only grew when Bryant later acknowledged that he made sure the contact looked obvious enough to draw a flag.

“It was a little pass interference, I did sell it just enough to get the flag,” Bryant told CBS Colorado. “He definitely gave me a little nudge that I felt, I felt like I couldn’t get the ball so it was either the ball or the call and we ended up with the call.”

Asked whether there is an art to selling contact in football, Bryant didn't shy away from the idea.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” he said. “It’s something that a lot of people do in this league.”

Wallace , unsurprisingly, saw the play differently: “It was very frustrating,” he said after the game.

McVay refuses to let mistake define loss

The NFL’s admission gives the Rams some vindication, but McVay has made a point of not turning the officiating error into an excuse: “We’re not going to play the victim,” he said earlier in the week.

Los Angeles had several chances to take control before the controversial finish. The Rams blew a 16-0 halftime lead, committed other costly penalties and allowed Denver to seize momentum after Matthew Stafford threw a pick-six.

McVay said the real value of the league’s feedback is in how it helps coaches instruct players going forward.

“The goal is just to get good, consistent feedback,” he said. “The only thing that matters to me is how to educate my players.”

He also made clear that Wallace ’s technique was not something he intended to change based on the play. The damage, however, is already done.

Denver improved to 2-1, while the Rams dropped to 1-2 after a game in which one of the biggest moments was ultimately officiated incorrectly.

The league’s admission cannot rewrite the result. It does confirm that Los Angeles had every reason to question the call that helped decide it.