The Rams lost to the Falcons just seconds after Joe Buck and at least one other on the “Monday Night Football” broadcast insisted the refs missed a key penalty on the game’s final drive.
With 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Los Angeles’ road tilt with Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Matthew Stafford heaved a deep ball from his own 35-yard line all the way down to Tutu Atwell at the Falcons’ 15 in an effort to pull off an improbable, come-from-behind victory.
The football, though, clanked off the receiver’s hands and fell incomplete. But before Stafford got back under center to finish the final 10 seconds of the game, Buck and rules expert Russell Yurk took a further look at the play, and the two were adamant officials should’ve thrown a flag on Falcons cornerback Dee Alford.
“He’s holding that arm down,” Yurk said as he watched a replay. “I think that’s pass interference.”
“He had a hold of Tutu Atwell’s arm,” Buck added. “No call.”
When color commentator Troy Aikman questioned otherwise, Yurk doubled down.
“It can be absolutely hard in real time because you see them hand-fighting off each other,” Yurk said. “It is a foul, though.”
Stafford and the Rams still somehow nearly got in position to tie the game on the next play, when wide receiver Puka Nacua appeared to make a miraculous, one-handed 30-yard catch on the sideline.
After review, however, it was ruled Nacua didn’t snare the pass. The Rams went on to lose, 27-24.
The loss dropped L.A. to 11-5, and it might have slashed Stafford’s MVP chances as well, as the veteran signal-caller threw three interceptions in the loss, including one that was returned for a touchdown.
The Rams will play next on Sunday versus the Cardinals before they head to the postseason as a wild card. The playoff-eliminated Falcons, meanwhile, will wrap their season with a home game against New Orleans.
