Pat Bryant’s night against the Rams ended up being about much more than his box score.
The Broncos receiver was at the center of the play that changed everything on Monday night, when Denver was trailing 26-23 with 1:10 left and Bryant drew a pass interference penalty on Rams corner Josh Wallace. The flag erased what would have been a game-clinching interception by Wallace, and Denver took the opening it had been handed. On the very next chance, Bo Nix finished the comeback with a 1-yard touchdown run with 47 seconds left, completing a wild rally after the Broncos had gone into halftime down 16-0.
Bryant didn’t exactly run from the controversy when he spoke with CBS Sports Colorado’s Romi Bean on Tuesday. Asked whether the play was actually pass interference, he was blunt.
“It was a little pass interference … I did sell it just enough to get the flag,” Bryant said. “He definitely gave me a little nudge … it was either the ball or the call, and I couldn’t get the ball, so we ended up getting the call.”
Bean followed up by asking whether football has an “art of the flop,” the way basketball and soccer do.
“Oh yeah, of course,” Bryant said.
That honesty only poured fuel on a call that was already getting hammered online. Bryant said fans had been flooding his social media since the game, and the reaction outside the Broncos locker room was plenty sharp too.
NFL reporter Ben Stevens blasted the call on X, saying Bryant tugged Wallace’s shoulder pad and then flopped while Wallace still came away with the interception, which he labeled a “Horrendous PI call.” Another post from NFL influencer Wok Dior also took aim at Bryant’s reaction and said Wallace should have been credited with the pick.
Even with the debate swirling, Bryant did his part in Denver’s comeback beyond the penalty. He finished with two catches for 44 yards and a touchdown against Los Angeles. After the game, Broncos head coach Sean Payton praised what Bryant brings as a target.
“He has real good hands away from his body,” Payton said. “He high points the two-point play.
It was really covered, and [QB] Bo [Nix] and he do a great job of just finding a throwing lane. Because of how he can catch, he’s good with run after the catch.”
But it’s Bryant’s admission about selling the call that has kept the moment alive. What looked controversial on the field somehow became even more combustible once the receiver explained it himself.
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