Sunday night’s instant classic between the Rams and Broncos had a back-to-the-future moment, when teams coached by Sean McVay and Sean Payton were involved in a potential pass interference situation with the game on the line.
The controversial non-call from the 2018 NFC Championship between the Rams and Saints happened just outside the L.A. five yard line. The controversial call from Sunday night happened in virtually the same spot on the field.
There are different opinions about the play. Some saw interference. Some did not.
Personally, I saw interference. Rams defensive back Josh Wallace used his right hand to shove Broncos receiver Pat Bryant just before the ball arrived.
And the operative rule, which lists seven different prohibited acts by the defender when the ball is in the air, starts with this one: “Contact by a player who is not playing the ball that restricts the opponent’s opportunity to make the catch.”
If the ball is arriving and the defender shoves him away from it, common sense says that was and is contact that restricts the opponent’s opportunity to make the catch.
The only question is whether Wallace was “playing the ball.” While on one hand he was hoping to make the interception (and did), the shove with the left hand wasn’t part of the effort to make the catch. It was part of the effort to ensure that the intended receiver couldn’t.
Chances are that it was a technique Wallace has learned, at some point in his time as a defensive back. A subtle, well-timed shove may not be seen by an official who is trying to sort through everything else that’s happening.
Bryant, for his part, flopped after he was shoved. The SGA-level reaction, while cartoonish, doesn’t change the fact that Bryant was shoved.
After the ridiculous non-call from 2018, which prompted a New Orleans boycott of Super Bowl LIII, the NFL decided to make pass interference calls and non-calls subject to replay review. The good idea was very poorly executed, and it lasted only one year.
Interference, or lack thereof, is a judgment call. Some could look at that play and see interference; others could look at the same play and reach the opposite conclusion.
That’s one of the biggest problems with the former officials who take jobs in broadcasting and periodically pontificate with the benefit of a frame-by-frame, 4K monitor. The question isn’t whether the former official (some of whom are former officials for a reason) subjectively believes pass interference happened. The question is whether the current official who was required to make the call in real-time with the naked eye abused his or her broad discretion.
One of the biggest problems with the TV referees is that they focus only on giving us their own interpretation of what they saw. In many cases, who cares? We all see the same thing. In those moments, those who do the job best remind us of the standard that applies to the decision that was made.
For the Broncos-Rams play, the best explanation would have been this one: “If probably wouldn’t have thrown a flag if I was in that position, but there’s enough there to justify someone else making a different decision.”
One of New Orleans’ key offensive players is set to be sidelined for a bit.
Via multiple reporters, head coach Kellen Moore said in his Monday press conference that running back Travis Etienne will have some “time lost” due to the hamstring injury he suffered in Sunday’s loss to the Raiders.
Moore did not specify a timeline for Etienne’s return.
In his first season with the Saints, Etienne has rushed for 128 yards and caught 11 passes for 51 yards in three games.
The Saints also have Alvin Kamara, Kendre Miller, and CJ Donaldson on their 53-man roster at running back.
The Saints were upset that they had a fumble recovery taken off the board in their Week 1 loss to the Lions and they weren’t any happier about the application of the rules in the fourth quarter of Week 3.
Quarterback Tyler Shough fumbled when he got hit by Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce while trying to deliver a pass and Maxx Crosby recovered the ball. In Week 1, officials overturned Lions quarterback Jared Goff’s fumble because they ruled Goff had started his throwing motion prior to being hit by Saints defensive end Chase Young and that made it a forward pass even though the ball went backward.
Shough’s fumble did not get overturned via the same rule. After Sunday’s game, Shough said he believed that it should have been.
“I thought I threw it. Me, personally, I thought my arm was going forward,” Shough said at his press conference. “I’m not exactly sure on the rule. It doesn’t really matter to me. I’ve got to get it out sooner regardless.”
NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth told pool reporter Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune why the ruling was different this time.
“With the ruling on the field of a fumble recovered by the defense, that is an automatic booth review which any automatic booth review is either confirmed with New York to confirm the ruling on the field, or we stop the game if we need to. On that play, we were able to confirm that the defenders’ right hand hit the ball and the hand. The quarterback clearly lost control of the ball before his hand was coming forward. We were able to confirm the ruling on the field. . . . All we are looking for is the hand coming forward with control to make it an incomplete pass. In the play that happened today, the hand was not coming forward with control of the ball.”
The Saints disagreed with that interpretation, which gave them plenty to lament after the game. The Raiders turned the fumble into a go-ahead touchdown that helped them go from being down 11 points to winning the game 35-27.
For just the second time since 2002, the Raiders are 3-0.
After entering the fourth quarter down 27-22, Las Vegas picked up four takeaways in the final period to defeat New Orleans 35-27.
While the Raiders held a 16-13 lead at halftime, the Saints were able to score twice in quick succession in the third quarter to ostensibly take control of the game. Tyler Shough threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson before the Raiders fumbled the ensuing kickoff. Shough then connected with Noah Fant for a 16-yard score to put New Orleans up 27-16 with 5:46 left in the third quarter.
But it was all Las Vegas from there. Mike Washington scored on a 36-yard touchdown run to cap a quick, five-play drive. The two-point conversion failed, keeping the score at 27-22, New Orleans.
That’s when the turnovers began, with Shough losing the ball on a strip-sack in Las Vegas territory on third-and-4 from the Las Vegas 29.
Kirk Cousins hit Cody White for a 4-yard touchdown to give the Raiders a 28-27 lead with 9:21 left in regulation.
Down by one, Shough then threw an interception that set up Cousins’ 4-yard touchdown to Brock Bowers — who was making his 2026 debut — for a 35-27 lead.
For the Saints’ third turnover, Shough was again strip-sacked with 2:21 left in regulation on fourth-and-1 deep in Las Vegas territory.
And while the team got the ball back, Johnson fumbled with just under a minute left, and the Raiders recovered to clinch their victory.
Sunday’s win was the first time the Raiders scored at least 30 points since defeating the Chargers 63-21 on a Thursday night in December 2023.
As noted by the CBS broadcast, the game also tied an NFL record with six touchdown receptions by tight ends. The only other time that had happened was in 1981 in a matchup between the Chargers and Raiders.
Cousins finished 22-of-33 for 248 yards with three touchdowns. That makes him the first QB in team history to record at least three passing TDs in each of the club’s first three games. He’s also the first since Lamar Jackson in 2022 to record at least three passing TDs in each of his team’s first three games.
After undergoing a meniscus trim, Bowers was as excellent as ever, catching 10 passes on 13 targets for 116 yards with a TD.
On the other side, Shough finished 29-of-42 for 255 yards with four touchdowns, an interception, and two lost fumbles. Chris Olave led with nine catches for 107 yards.
At 3-0, the Raiders will host an AFC West showdown with the fellow 3-0 Chiefs next weekend.
The 1-2 Saints will host the 1-2 Falcons next Monday night.
The Saints have started the second half with a stop and a score, then a takeaway and a score.
While New Orleans was down 16-13 at halftime, the game has quickly turned in the Saints’ favor, with the club taking a 27-16 lead.
Tyler Shough connected with Juwan Johnson for the tight end’s second touchdown of the day midway through the third quarter, giving New Orleans a 20-16 lead.
The 1-yard TD pass capped a 12-play, 87-yard drive that took 6:50 off the clock.
The Saints did not generate a defensive stop in the first half, with the Raiders scoring on each of their four possessions. But New Orleans forced a quick three-and-out to open the third quarter, giving the offense the opportunity to take the lead.
New Orleans then got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff, as Dylan Laube fumbled with Anfernee Jennings picking up the loose ball for a takeaway.
A play later, Shough found Noah Fant for a 16-yard touchdown to give the Saints a two-possession advantage.
Saints running back Travis Etienne appeared to suffer a hamstring injury on his 16-yard run the play before Shough’s fourth TD pass.
Raiders receiver Jack Bech is out with a forearm injury suffered late in the first half. And Saints defensive lineman Carl Granderson is questionable to return with an ankle injury.
Additionally, Justin Reid kicked off to start the second half. According to Nick Underhill of neworleans.football, Daniel Carlson is not hurt, the Saints just wanted to do something different. Carlson had missed the landing zone on a kickoff earlier in the game.
