Sean McDermott’s Frustration With OT Interception Call Only Doubled After Pool Report

Sean McDermott was not happy with some of the calls made during the Bills–Broncos divisional playoff game on Saturday, resulting in a 33–30 Denver win in overtime.

McDermott sounded off on the officials in his postgame press conference, specifically calling out the interception ruled late in overtime. The referees called an interception after it appeared that Bills receiver Brandin Cooks came down with a catch. This gave the Broncos the ball back to finish out a game-winning drive. McDermott was frustrated that the call wasn’t given a closer look, especially with the weight the moment had on the game.

The coach’s frustrations only increased after he had a chance to look at the pool report following his press conference. McDermott spoke with The Buffalo News’s Jay Skurski on the team plane on the waay back to Buffalo, and he did not hold back his thoughts.

“That play is not even close. That's a catch all the way. I sat in my locker and I looked at it probably 20 times, and nobody can convince me that that ball is not caught and in possession of Buffalo,” McDermott said. “I just have no idea how the NFL handled it, in particular, the way that they did. I think the players and the fans deserve an explanation, you know?”

The coach admitted on Saturday night that he thought it was a proper catch with Cooks down by contact before Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian took the ball away. Since Cooks was ruled to not have possession when he went down, the play was still live and allowed McMillian to take the ball for himself.

McDermott wishes the officials had done more to confirm the interception ruling, especially in a crucial moment like that. He hopes the officials can provide an explanation to the team and to the fans.

“Here’s the deal, right? The fans deserve more. The players certainly deserve more. They deserve an explanation, and it’s a shame that a game is decided on a call like that, and there is no time spent with the head official going underneath the hood or to the replay booth, right? To the monitor,” McDermott continued. “I don’t understand how that works. I don’t understand how that could be the case when it’s such a close play, so basically there is one person ruling on that play or, only New York ruling on that play? I don’t agree with that. If that’s the case, I don’t agree with that—that that is the best approach to decide a game like that.”

Here’s McDermott’s full conversation with Skurski.

#Bills HC Sean McDermott called reporter @JaySkurski from the team plane on the way back from Denver:

“That play is not even close. That’s a catch all the way. I sat in my locker and I looked at it probably 20 times, and nobody can convince me that that ball is not caught and in… https://t.co/uwwbdmzfMO pic.twitter.com/9qgk8yy99B
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 18, 2026

NFL head referee Carl Cheffers provided an explanation for the ruling after the game.

“The receiver has to complete the process of a catch. He was going to the ground as part of the process of the catch and he lost possession of the ball when he hit the ground. The defender gained possession of it at that point. The defender is the one that completed the process of the catch, so the defender was awarded the ball.”

There’s no guarantee that the Bills would’ve won the game if it was ruled a catch by Cooks. But, McDermott wants to make sure his team got a fair chance to figure it out. The Bills did have five turnovers in the game, so it’s not like the contest was determined just by this one play.

It’s definitely a moment the Bills will be replaying in their heads throughout the offseason.

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