Roger Goodell fans flames in wake of Buffalo Bills' controversial playoff exit

With Buffalo Bills fans still healing from a controversial postseason loss to the Denver Broncos, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell rubbed salt in the wound with comments made regarding the league’s officiating.

While presenting his annual address days before Super Bowl LX, Goodell provided an analysis of the refs and their performance during the most recent campaign.

“I’m so amazed at how good our officials are,” said Goodell. “We spend time all week looking at various angles and still debating it a week later. These guys have to make a split-second decision, and the men and women on our field are incredible. I think they’ve proven over and over again they’re really wonderful at what they do.”

That must be tough to hear for those who felt Brandin Cooks came down with the catch on what was instead Ja’Quan McMillian’s fateful interception to help the Broncos advance to the AFC Championship Game.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pose for a photograph at San Jose Convention Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Plenty of praise

Goodell continued to laud the officials but also mentioned the league’s need to increase its use of groundbreaking technology to better prevent miscalls made throughout the year. Such as the play in which many believe a mistake was made when Cooks had the ball ripped away by McMillian in overtime of Buffalo’s Divisional Round defeat.

“It’s a difficult sport to officiate — it’s fast, it’s quick,” he added. “And we have to be able to use technology, in my view, to try to prevent the obvious errors. Now, they’re not all obvious. I think, depending on which team you’re for, they’re obvious in your eyes potentially. But at the end of the day, we see that if there’s an obvious error, we need to be able to fix it. And I think technology can help that.”

The funny thing is, during overtime of Bills-Broncos, the officials had the chance to slow the game down and use technology to ensure they got the call right. But rather than stop the game and generate an adequate on-site video review of the play, they rushed the game along and failed to use every avenue at their disposal.

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"It would seem logical to me and make a lot of sense that the head official would walk over and want to go and take a look at it,” said former Bills head coach Sean McDermott after his team was eliminated, largely due to the controversial interception from McMillian.

"Just to make sure that everybody from here who is in the stadium, to there are on the same page,” McDermott added. “That's too big of a play, in my estimation, too big of a play in a play that decided the game, potentially as well, to not even slow it down.”

McDermott wound up calling a timeout to try to force an on-site video review following the disputed call, but to no avail. It was a questionable moment, one that led to much discussion regarding the rules and the refs’ incapacity to oversee such a crucial call with sufficient care.

NFL official — Side judge Boris Cheek (41) worked his 460th game on Sunday, which tied him with former referee Walt Coleman for the most NFL games worked by an official, is seen here during the second half of a game between the Denver Broncos and against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Expansion

Before his time at the microphone concluded on Monday, Goodell touched on the league’s replay assist process and its plans to potentially expand its use — not to verify calls that have already been made, but to better allow refs to assess penalties. Which is something nobody asked for.

“We need to bring that into different categories, potentially personal fouls,” said the commissioner. “Should we be able to work on the officials who are upstairs, the replay officials, or New York, depending on the circumstances — we should have the discussion, should they be able to throw a flag, so that if a flag isn’t down, they can put a flag if it’s an obvious error. There obviously has to be structure to that.

“There has to be a lot of discussion about how that happens and when. But I think all those things are things that the competition committee will spend some time on.”

So, while the Bills and many of their fans still believe Cooks caught the ball, which has left them pushing for change in the NFL’s use of replay, Goodell seems ready for the league to make a shift — but not one that everyone appeared to be hoping for.

Typical of an organization that consistently fails to read the room properly.

Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'quan McMillian and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Brandin Cooks both go up for the ball during overtime at Empower FIeld at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Jan. 17, 2026. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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