The Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles played an instant classic in Week 12. It could be the best regular season game of the 2023 campaign, and it is one that the Bills are going to remember for a long time.
It was an excruciating loss for Buffalo, dropping them to 6-6 on the season as they fell 37-34 in overtime. All six of their losses in 2023 have been by one score, as they could easily be atop the AFC with a few breaks going their way. Instead, their playoff hopes are on life-supporting heading into their Week 13 bye as they are 10th in the conference.
While fans will remember their game this past weekend for the back-and-forth nature of play in the second half and star quarterbacks Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts stepping up, the Bills and their fans will remember it for miscues by the team and blatantly missed calls by officials.
It was something that Bills head coach Sean McDermott didn’t want to get into after the game. Knowing the ramifications of calling out referees, McDermott replied with a simple answer, saying, “Nah, I’m not going there.”
Other people, such as Doug Farrar of USA Today, were willing to go there. Farrar ripped apart the job done by the referee crew led by Shawn Hochuli.
“Here at Touchdown Wire, we’ve written about the league’s awful product all season, but it’s going to be very difficult to top the no-call in the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Eagles for sheer WTF status.”
On more than one occasion, the referee crew missed calls that would have drastically changed the outcome of the game. With 1:25 remaining in the first half, the Bills were driving deep into the Eagles’ territory. Pass-rusher Haason Reddick broke into the backfield and attempted to tackle Allen, but he grabbed the back of his jersey.
Instead of a horsecollar penalty being called, which would have given the Bills a fresh set of downs, Allen was called for intentional grounding. Upon views of replays, that call was also a so-so one as wide receiver Gabe Davis was within reason in the area as that call is usually rather lenient.
“The hit on Josh Allen, we felt that force was from the front of the collar,” Hochuli said. “And what pulled him down was not from the back. So, that’s pretty much it. We felt that he was pulled down from the front of the jersey and collar.”
That play was one former NFL referee and CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore disagreed with. On X, formerly known as Twitter, he said, “If the quarterback is in the pocket, there cannot be a penalty for a horse collar tackle. However, once he leaves the pocket, he is offered that protection. Josh Allen was out of the pocket, so there should have been a foul on this play.”
In overtime, cornerback Darius Slay looked to have committed an infraction against wide receiver Stefon Diggs, holding him as the ball was coming his way. On a replay, one of the people in the referee crew wasn’t even looking in the direction of the ball to be able to make the correct call.
Those certainly aren’t great looks for the referee crew. After such a great game, it is a shame so much focus is on missed calls and bad officiating instead of what occurred on the field between the Bills and Eagles.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.
