BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Bills general manager Brandon Beane said he felt like Josh Allen picked up enough yardage for a first down on a controversial fourth-and-1 play that resulted in a turnover on downs late in Sunday’s AFC championship game.
Beane was referring to Buffalo’s “tush push” on fourth-and-1 with 13 minutes remaining in the game. Officials ruled Allen was short of the first down marker, giving the ball to the Chiefs, and did not feel there was conclusive enough evidence to change the call on replay.
Had Buffalo scored on that drive, the Bills would have extended their fourth quarter lead to as many as nine. Instead, Kansas City scored on the ensuing possession to take the lead. The Bills tied the game after that, but never had the lead again.
“I feel like he got that,” Beane said in his end of season press conference on Thursday. “And I still feel like he got that. I felt that in the moment and nothing has changed my mind on that.”
Beane also brought up a first-half play where Bills safety Cole Bishop appeared to successfully break up a pass to Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy, but was ruled a catch. The Bills unsuccessfully challenged the play.
“The play that we challenged I thought was a good challenge, I’m not sure either player had possession,” Beane said. “You have to have possession and it’s like, what is possession … when the ball touches the ground, someone has to have established possession.”
After the game, some fans called for added technology to help officials spot the ball. Beane said that a development system for that type of technology — and the officials themselves — doesn’t work the same as it does in other professional sports leagues, likening it to the pitch clock in baseball being experimented with in the minor leagues before it was adopted by Major League Baseball.
“Our minor league is mainly college football which has some different rules, but I think that’s probably where the NFL would be better,” Beane said. “Even having officials to be able to officiate. That’s how major league umpires get up there, they don’t just start in the majors or start in college, they work their way up. So that’s an impediment that the NFL faces. I don’t have a clear solution so I’m not griping about it, I’m just answering.”
Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.