Joe Burrow felt the need to speak out and set the record straight on a couple of controversial calls that were made during the 2025 NFL Divisional Round.
Two rulings in particular sparked intense debate over the weekend. The first was an interception thrown by Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen on Saturday intended for wide receiver Brandin Cooks.
The Bills wideout had possession as he was hitting the ground, but had the ball ripped out of his hands by Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian. The play was ruled an interception, effectively losing Buffalo the game.
RIPPED IT FROM HIS HANDS 😳
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 18, 2026
JOSH ALLEN PICKED OFF IN OVERTIME 😱
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/kjDJw3pVLf
A similar play happened the following day when Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams caught a contested catch and had the ball taken away from him by a Chicago Bears defender. Referees deemed it a completed catch, with the takeaway happening after the play was ruled dead.
This catch by Davante Adams was ruled complete in the Rams – Bears game…
— Mikerophone (@MikerophoneNFL) January 19, 2026
This SAME PLAY was ruled an interception in the Bills – Broncos game… 🥶
These NFL Refs are so inconsistent…
pic.twitter.com/lTRQrPHGHi
Many fans argued that referees had conflicting rulings for two plays that were somewhat identical. Burrow didn’t feel the same way. The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback took to social media to call out fans for their lack of understanding of the NFL rulebook.
The amount of ppl [sic] that don’t understand what a catch is in the rule book flabbergasts me,” Burrow wrote. “And it’s not the officials. The two plays yesterday were not difficult calls, and they got them both right.”
The amount of ppl that don’t understand what a catch is in the rule book flabbergasts me. And it’s not the officials. The two plays yesterday were not difficult calls, and they got them both right.
— Joey Burrow (@JoeyB) January 19, 2026
Burrow must have felt very strongly about the referees getting the calls right, given that it was his first post on X in nearly two years. It’s surprising that the Bengals star still remembers his password following all that inactivity.
Burrow probably doesn’t have much patience these days with Cincinnati not even making the postseason. He’d much rather be making big passes in the playoffs rather than arguing about ones made by his peers.
