Bills denied final play on controversial call

It appears the Buffalo Bills should have had the opportunity to run one more play in Monday's loss to the New England Patriots.

In a wild game full of weird plays and interesting calls, the final play was no exception. Sammy Watkins caught a short pass and appeared to get out of bounds with two seconds left on the clock. Instead, the official said the clock should run.

The Bills would have had the ball at midfield with the chance to run a potentially game-tying Hail Mary.

The ruling was wrong because Watkins was not being forced out by an opponent, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports. If a ball carrier goes out of bounds on their own while moving backward, the clock should stop.

Referee Gene Steratore said the official who made the call believed Watkins had given himself up and offered this explanation following the game:

What we had as far as the last play with Buffalo's reception was that the receiver gave himself up voluntarily in the field of play. When that occurs and we deem that the runner, which he would have been after he maintained possession after his reception, he was now a runner, had given himself up in the field of play. Then fact that he scoots out of bounds is not as important. We wound the clock. It was a judgement call by that head linesman that he felt like he gave himself up in the field of play. It's not a reviewable play. So winding the clock or stopping the clock is not something we review. So, in his judgement, he deemed that the runner gave himself up in the field of play voluntarily, which does put him down by contact in the field, so he wound (the clock).