Terry McAulay thought refs got biggest call of Rams-Broncos wrong

Sunday night’s game between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams turned into a thriller in the second half that came down to just a few close plays and calls. NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay thought the officials working the game got one of those close calls wrong.

The Broncos had the ball in the red zone trailing by three points with less than a minute to play. Quarterback Bo Nix took the snap, let the play develop, and attempted to thread the needle to find receiver Pat Bryant on the sideline. He was covered by cornerback Josh Wallace, who worked his way inside Bryant and came away from the play with the ball.

Wallace got up with the ball celebrating an interception, but a flag had been thrown for defensive pass interference. In real time, it felt like a questionable call at best, but watching the replay, it was abundantly clear that the refs had missed the call, so much so that McAulay called it out on the broadcast.

“As we get towards the end, we actually see the receiver grab the defender and pull in on him,” McAulay said. “I don’t see the defender do anything that significantly hinders the receiver on this play. Even the first part. There’s just hands on him, he doesn’t do anything with them.”

Cris Collinsworth followed up to confirm that McAulay believed the play should have been ruled an interception, and he agreed.

“If the knee gets down, yes. If two feet are down, yes. I absolutely—that’s what I see.”

NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay did not believe Rams CB Josh Wallace should have been flagged for pass interference, in what may have otherwise been an interception.

The Broncos went on to score what would serve as the game-winning TD. pic.twitter.com/A0YDJ8ZmZl

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 28, 2026

First, hats off to McAulay here for making a call and not being afraid to differ from what was decided on the field. Too often in these instances the rules analyst is brought on and winds up simply interpreting the official’s train of thought in coming to the decision they came to, rather than making a judgment call on the play itself and deciding if it matches up with what was called on the field. The role of rules analyst is infinitely more interesting when they are actually talking through the rules, rather than attempting to read the minds of the referees on the field.

Beyond that, good job by Collinsworth for clarifying to make sure we had a final call from McAulay. There is a bit of daylight between, “I didn’t see anything,” and “I think that should have been an interception,” and Collinsworth’s follow-up closed the gap.

Had the play been ruled an interception, it’s game over, Rams win. Instead, the Broncos’ drive continued, where another penalty — this one fairly called but still frustrating given the circumstances— helped put them on the goal line and eventually punch in the game-winning touchdown.