The Los Angeles Rams saw a potential game-sealing interception erased by a controversial penalty Sunday night. Still, Sean McVay and his players refused to blame the officials for their 30-26 loss to the Denver Broncos.
With 1:15 remaining and Los Angeles trailing 27-26 at Empower Field at Mile High, cornerback Josh Wallace appeared to intercept Bo Nix at the Rams' 7-yard line. The turnover would have given Matthew Stafford and the offense a chance to close out the game.
Instead, Wallace was flagged for defensive pass interference against Denver receiver Pat Bryant. NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay said during the broadcast that Bryant appeared to initiate the contact and pull Wallace into him.
Bryant later admitted that he had “sold” the call. McVay acknowledged the play looked clean from his perspective but refused to dwell on the decision.
Aaron Donald also declined to criticize the officiating.
“The ref called what he called, and you can’t do nothing about that now,” Donald said. “Woulda, shoulda, coulda.”
Wallace offered a similar response and said, “It's tough,” Wallace said. “I felt like we stopped them a couple of times. Just got to keep playing at the end of the day.”
“They just got momentum. There's a lot of things to clean up,” he added.
The Rams' offense stalled at critical moments, surrendering Denver safety Talanoa Hufanga's 66-yard pick-six. Stafford completed 30 of 55 passes for 390 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Davante Adams had seven catches for 137 yards, while Kyren Williams totaled 158 yards from scrimmage
The 1-2 Rams visit the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4 on October 4 at 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX.