NFL Tells Sean McVay it Wasn't DPI, but it Was Still a Penalty

On Wednesday, Sean McVay told reporters the push/run through by Josh Wallace wasn't defensive pass interference and that the NFL told him so.

It's an interesting claim from the league. Especially when it comes out three days after the Denver Broncos 30-26 comeback victory over the LA Rams, an instant classic.

And there was enough contact on the play for it to have been illegal contact at a minimum. It was still a penalty and the Broncos were right to have been awarded a first down. Then, Denver finished the drive seven plays later and still had to stop the Rams to win the game.

NFL Tells Sean McVay it Wasn't DPI

Let the conspiracy theorists rejoice.

As soon as that penalty was called, with 1:09 left in the game, people were complaining on social media.

Of course, that wasn't helped by Terry McAulay—the former NFL referee and current rules analyst for SNF on NBC—who said live on TV it shouldn't have been a defensive pass interference penalty.

That was only after the slow motion replay of the action was shown. Live, it was clearly a penalty.

Slowed down, it seemed less egregious and that Pat Bryant sold the call. He admitted as much this week.

But selling the call or not, there was still contact initiated by the defender past five yards which impeded Bryant's ability to catch the pass.

First, Josh Wallace pushes Bryant and knocks him off balance at the 5 yard line. Both of them work back toward the ball—Bryant tried to stop and get in position to catch it—and Wallace runs through Bryant. Now, does Bryant also grab Wallace's shoulder while flopping? Yes.

But Wallace pushed Bryant twice, both times while the ball was in the air. That's DPI.

Ironically, Mike Florio agrees with me on the DPI, while his other writer made no mention of that in their update about the league telling McVay it's not DPI.

"Terry McAulay disagreed with it; I don't know if I agree with Terry McAulay on it," Florio said. "I think it looked like pass interference to me... I've been watching football for 50 years. I know it when I see it."

"One hundred percent (it's pass interference)," Chris Simms responded. "I would agree with you there. He ran through him, pushed him out. I know it doesn't seem like it in slow motion; it don't look that bad, but right there, he's just running through him. Bryant's trying to stop."

It's Illegal Contact at a Minimum

The line of scrimmage was the 11. The first contact was at the 5.

Here's another view to see the distance downfield when they first come into contact.

If it's not DPI—which, I do agree it was somewhat marginal contact, but we've all seen other similar pass interference flags thrown—then it's definitely illegal contact.

If that's called, it's still an automatic first down and half the distance to the goal.

It was a phenomenal interception by Wallace. That's what made it even more sensationalized and blown up into this major "controversy."

The truth is, Bo Nix should've never thrown that ball. He should've thrown it away and lived to fight another day.

And the other truth is the Broncos completely outplayed the Rams in the second half on Sunday night.

The Rams should've stopped the first touchdown, or the second, or either of the two 2-point conversions, or the other touchdown...and so on.

Hell, the Broncos needed seven more plays from the 7 yard line to score. The Rams could have stopped them at any point there, too.

We're not going to let a call ruin one of the best NFL games we've seen in the last few years.

Denver hung 30 after halftime on LA.

They can't blame the refs for the loss. McVay said so himself. They need to take a long look in the mirror to find out why they're now 1-2 despite being everyone's preseason Super Bowl favorites.

And the Broncos are now 2-1 as they head into San Francisco to face the 3-0 49ers.

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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.