NFL Officials Fist Bump After Touchdown, Players Question Fairness of Calls

The Buffalo Bills were upset with the referees Sunday, Dec. 7, after their comeback fell short in a 24-17 loss to the Denver Broncos. Following the game, multiple Bills players questioned the legitimacy of the officiating.

"It definitely felt like it was about 16 on 11," running back Anthony Dixon told ESPN. "But we can't make that an excuse. We did some things that we shouldn't have did. We can't be selfish like that. There were a couple selfish penalties by a couple of guys. We got to cut that out."

Defensive back Nickell Robey was also pretty salty.

"Very frustrating," Robey said. "We understand that it's Denver. We understand that they are the AFC champions and all that other stuff. But at the end of the day, you have to call the game how it's supposed to be called. Some things just could have gone our way but they didn't. But I guess that's what happens when you're in someone else's territory."

That seemed to be his politically correct response, with a more poignant reply coming later via social media:

One of the primary incidents players and fans were upset with was a fist bump by two referees after the Broncos scored a touchdown:

The score put the Broncos ahead by 13, which is quite interesting. Why? The Las Vegas betting line on the contest was -10, which meant Denver covered the spread with that TD.

But former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira dispelled the controversy on a Fox broadcast.

"I'm amazed at people on Twitter who love to chat when they don't know what they're talking about," Pereira said. "I'm even more amazed when people in the media write things that have no basis or merit to be written.

"And we're talking about three minutes to go in the second quarter of the Denver game, when [C.J.] Anderson goes up the middle. He goes [into] a bunch of bodies. The line judge can't see the ball, so the umpire comes in, looks to see where Anderson is. He gives a thumbs up to the line judge to indicate that he broke the plane, then the line judge signals touchdown. Perfect mechanics. So what does the line judge do? He gives a fist bump to the line judge, thanking him for the information to make the right call. And people say [the officials] want Denver to win? I've never heard such ridiculousness in my life.

"There are guys that are out there doing the job, great communication, great mechanics. Are they not allowed to acknowledge each other? That's insane. It's one thing to be criticized, but it's another thing to be criticized by people who have no idea what they're talking about. End of subject."

The league also made an official statement.

"It was an acknowledgment of good mechanics between the two officials involved in making the call," NFL spokesman Michael Signora told the AP.

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NFL, Denver Broncos