NFL admits clock should have stopped on Watkins' late catch vs. Patriots

The NFL is conceding that officials erred in another significant play in Monday night's matchup between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills.

With the Bills running low on time as they sought a game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Sammy Watkins hauled in a pass on the sideline and appeared to fall out of bounds before time on the game clock expired.

A stoppage would have given the Bills one final shot at the end zone, but the sideline official ruled that Watkins was down in the field of play. Already having used each of their three timeouts, Buffalo didn't have time to run another snap before the game was brought to an end.

Vice president of officiating Dean Blandino explained Tuesday in an appearance on NFL Network that while the linesman believed that Watkins had given himself up in the field of play before getting to the sidelines, the incorrect decision was made.

"It's a judgment call," Blandino said, according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN. "In the head linesman's judgment, he felt that the player gave himself up. ... A player can certainly give himself up - a runner going to the ground and making no attempt to advance - but you certainly want to give that player the opportunity to get out of bounds, especially inside of two minutes.

"You can see he is down in bounds, but he is not contacted. He is attempting to get out of bounds. You want to give that player the opportunity to get out of bounds. That's what should have happened."

The NFL also admitted Tuesday that officials made a mistake earlier in the game, where an inadvertent whistle took a possible touchdown away from Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola.