The Denver Broncos benefited from a controversial pass interference penalty late in Sunday's 30-26 comeback win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Facing 3rd-and-6 from L.A.'s 11-yard line with 1:15 remaining in the game, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix moved to his right and threw a pass to wide receiver Pat Bryant near the sideline. The throw initially appeared to have been intercepted by Rams cornerback Josh Wallace, but officials threw flags and negated the turnover for defensive pass interference (DPI).
Six plays later, Nix scored on a QB sneak to give the Broncos a 30-26 lead, and Denver went on to win the game after Talanoa Hufanga intercepted Matthew Stafford's final throw of the game.
The Wallace penalty caused an uproar on social media after NBC rules
analyst Terry McAulay suggested it shouldn't have been DPI (T.J. Ward disagreed).
“I’ll look at it, looked like it was a good competitive play from my vantage point, but we will go back and look at it," L.A. coach Sean McVay said after the game. "We’ll see what they say.”
The replay clearly shows that Wallace shoved Bryant in the back, throwing off his route:
You can't shove a receiver in the back when he's running his route. That clearly threw off Pat Bryant's route, and if not for Terry McAulay ignoring that, I don't think there'd be as much controversy about it.
— Jon Heath (@ByJonHeath) September 28, 2026
Look how Bryant's body reacts to it: https://t.co/4HKTtaQ9r3 pic.twitter.com/QbXfXHSx53
Mike Florio and Chris Simms on NBC agreed that it was correctly ruled DPI.
The late pass interference call against the Rams sure looked like pass interference to us. pic.twitter.com/8YDOQoPrzG
— PFT Live (@PFT_Live) September 28, 2026
Nix appeared to be within the tackle box when he threw the pass, and Wallace's contact happened beyond five yards past the line of scrimmage. So if the ball hadn't been thrown when the contact happened, it should have been ruled illegal contact. If the ball was thrown before contact, it was correctly ruled DPI. It's hard to judge from the replays if the pass had been released or not, but it's clear that the early contact had a major impact on Bryant's ability to make a play on the ball.
To me, it looks like Bo Nix is within the tackle box when he released the ball, so Josh Wallace shoving Pat Bryant in the back beyond five yards from the line of scrimmage should have been illegal contact. pic.twitter.com/DzQXvK3vpB
— Jon Heath (@ByJonHeath) September 28, 2026
That said, Bryant definitely played up the contact, dramatically falling to the ground to help draw a flag.
“We’re not at that soccer level yet, cause we saw that for a summer," Payton said when asked if there's an art to flopping in football, similar to soccer or the NBA. "I think it’s probably south of where the NBA is. I think there’s nothing that anyone works on. If they’re trying to catch a pass or… It’s not something that’s practiced. I don’t know other than his [Bryant's] natural reaction, outside of that, there’s really nothing we look at.”
The Rams might feel that they were robbed with a DPI flag on that sequence, but it certainly wasn't the only play that led to L.A.'s loss. After the foul, the Rams had more opportunities to stop Denver's offense. They also had another drive and got down to the 19-yard line before Stafford threw a game-losing interception, his second costly turnover of the second half. L.A.'s defense allowed Denver's offense to score 23 second-half points, but the offense still had an opportunity to win the game and squandered it.
Some fans and pundits (and former players) have suggested the penalty helps even things out after the no-call in the 2018 NFC Championship game cost Payton and the New Orleans Saints a trip to the Super Bowl.
The universe balances itself https://t.co/hIxrQJNk8R pic.twitter.com/IIGOEFreHO
— RG 📷 (@RyanGreeneDNVR) September 28, 2026
That no-call was (not) made by the same officiating crew that called Sunday's game in Denver.
“Well, this is years later, so a completely different game, different players," Payton said when asked about it during his Monday conference call. "I think there were two calls really that I guess that a lot of people were looking at, one over on Pat Bryant’s side and then the one that was a little bit later.
"Each week when these things come up — the longer you get in this thing, the less you discuss penalties. You just got to go out and play. I’ve yet to see one get changed either way. You hope that when the game’s over with, the season’s over with, you’re on the positive side of the ledger. I focus a little bit more on the penalties that we can control relative to pre-snap, post-snap, those types of things, but that’s really where I sit with it.”
It was a controversial play, and Broncos fans and Rams fans might never agree on the ruling, but it didn't mark L.A.'s final chance to win, and there's no question that Wallace arrived early and initiated contact before the ball arrived. Denver and the Rams can sort it out when they meet again (perhaps in the Super Bowl).
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Josh Wallace clearly shoved Pat Bryant in the back on controversial DPI play
