The Buffalo Bills survived a controversial call late in the fourth quarter Saturday to avoid what could have been a disastrous ending to their first home playoff game in 25 years.
Up by three with 50 seconds left in regulation, Buffalo appeared to force and recover a Zach Pascal fumble to ensure a victory over the Indianapolis Colts. However, officials ruled Pascal was down by contact, and they didn't overturn the call after spending several minutes watching a replay that seemed to show a fumble.
In #INDvsBUF, the ruling on the field is that the runner was down by contact. The was no clear and obvious visual evidence to overturn the ruling, so it stands. pic.twitter.com/1QmUW2Sjcj
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) January 9, 2021
The Colts were out of timeouts, meaning Buffalo could have kneeled twice to kill the final 50 seconds had the call been changed to a fumble.
Instead, the Bills were forced to play defense. They managed to keep the Colts out of scoring range, and Buffalo broke up a last-second Hail Mary to escape with a 27-24 win.
