The controversy around the missed and questionable calls in the AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs continues. Videos have been circulating social media compiling the mistakes that went in Kansas City’s favor, including arguably the most obvious: Josh Allen being ruled short on a 4th down quarterback sneak.

The call was quite obviously incorrect, and even after speaking to the NFL to get their side of the story, Bills General Manager Brandon Beane still thinks so.

“It’s frustrating,” Beane said in a press conference Thursday. “You know, there’s only so much I can say. We work with the league to try to get clarity, and I’ll give them credit, they’ve taken our calls, they’ve sent video and things like that. 

“If you’re talking about the fourth-down play … I feel like he got that. And I still feel like he got that. I felt that in the moment. Nothing has changed my mind on that.” 

Buffalo Bills Don’t Get Much Help From NFL

Of course, Allen’s first down wasn’t the only call that went against Buffalo. Head coach Sean McDermott challenged what appeared to be an incomplete pass incorrectly ruled a completion for Kansas City. Naturally, it was not overturned. Beane addressed that too.

“I thought it was a good challenge,” Beane said. “When the ball touched the ground, you have to have possession. It’s like, what is possession? And what Matt says is possession might not be what Elena says is possession, you know? But when the ball touches the ground, someone has to have established possession.” 

While the NFL didn’t explain much about the referees’ process, Beane said the missed calls weren’t the reason they lost.

“They’ve given how they see it, and that’s their job,” Beane said. “It is what it is. I mean, those are just like plays we didn’t make in the game, too. So, by no means are we saying that that’s why we lost the game.” 

McDermott’s press conference was similar, though he did reveal that he’d told his team before the game that they weren’t going to get beneficial officiating against the Chiefs in Kansas City. They sure didn’t.

“We went into the game and one of my messages to the team, and this happens from time to time, is you’re going to have to — you’re not going to get calls,” McDermott said. “We’re not going to get calls. And I think just when you prepare a team, you prepare them ahead of time, mentally, for this is the way it’s going down. And you live with that.”

It’s a near certainty that the NFL isn’t “rigged.” But when every team going into Arrowhead Stadium knows ahead of time the calls aren’t going to go their way, then every single one of them doesn’t, the league is creating a perception problem. And if they can’t even defend the officiating successfully behind-the-scenes to the GM or head coach, how can they do it publicly? The answer is they can’t.