Sports

The Titans lost to the Broncos in Denver on Sunday afternoon, but they may have given themselves a better chance of winning the game if they had a firmer grasp of the rules governing what constitutes a catch.

Rookie wide receiver Elic Ayomanor went up to try for a pass from Cam Ward with the Titans trailing the Broncos 13-12 in the third quarter and was ruled to have come down out of bounds while making the grab. Replays showed that Ayomanor's elbow appeared to land in the field of play before any part of his body hit out of bounds, which led to a question for head coach Brian Callahan about why he didn't challenge the ruling by officials.

"Yeah, you gotta get a foot inbounds too," Callahan said. "We didn’t have a clean look at whether his foot was down as well. An elbow doesn’t equal two feet so his foot would’ve had to come down as well. The call from upstairs was that it wasn’t worth challenging."

The problem with Callahan's answer is that the NFL rulebook doesn't back up his claim. Per the rules, a pass is complete if a player secures the ball and "touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands."

An elbow would qualify as another part of the body. That doesn't mean that the Titans would have won a challenge or won the game, but the explanation from the coach was based only on what the league's rules say and it was incorrect.

Callahan was not asked a followup to clarify his answer on Sunday. He'll likely field one on Monday because it appears that he and his staff had a major lapse in the heat of the moment.

In the first half of Sunday night's game in Buffalo, an "M-V-P" chant could be heard on behalf of Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. By the end of the game, few who pay any attention to football would doubt that the current MVP of the league plays for the home team in the Sunday night opener.

Josh Allen established himself as the way-too-early leader for the top individual prize in the sport by leading a f—kin' nutty comeback win for the ages in the first game of the final season at the Bills' long-time stadium.

Here's the stat of the year (perhaps): Per ESPN Research, via Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com, Allen had 251 passing yards in the fourth quarter. It's the most in any quarter of his entire career.

The next question is where does that performance rank as to any quarterback in any quarter at any time in league history? (Get on it, nerds.)

The number is staggering. It projects to 1,004 yards passing over the course of an entire game. And it came at a time when the Bills desperately needed it.

Only eight other quarterbacks had more than 251 passing yards in their entire Week 1 games.

Allen finished with 394 passing yards, the most of any quarterback in Week 1 (with one game to play). He completed 33 passes to nine different players.

Far more importantly, he helped the Bills score 16 points in the final four minutes of the game, turning a 15-point deficit into a one-point win in a 41-40 barnburner that was the best game of Week 1 — and possibly will be (when it's all said and done) the best game of the year.

More importantly to the aftermath of Week 18, the comeback positions the Bills to potentially force the Ravens to return to Buffalo for what could be the last game ever played in the team's long-time stadium. The Bills hold the critical tiebreaker, in the event that Buffalo and Baltimore end up tied for the best record in the conference.

Yes, there are 16 games to go. Last night's game, thanks to Allen's incredible final 15 minutes, could resonate deep into January. And it could be a key piece of a complex puzzle that could propel the Bills to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1993.

Ravens running back Derrick Henry ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday night, but he also lost a crucial fumble that helped the Bills come back and win. After the game, Henry took the blame.

"I've got to take care of the ball," Henry said. "Keep it high and tight. I got lackadaisical. I take this loss on me. If I'd taken care of the ball it would be a different situation."

Others in the Ravens' locker room said after the game that they didn't want Henry to take the blame for one mistake, and of course it's correct that no loss can be blamed on one player, especially a player who had as many big plays as Henry did on Sunday night.

But this game may prove to be a big one in this NFL season, one that determines who has home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs. And Henry's fumble may prove to be the most memorable play from a big Bills comeback.