12 Jan The Bills Got Screwed by Refs in Jaguars Playoff Game

Am I the only Bills fan who felt déjà vu watching another playoff game with a host of controversial calls that went against the Bills yesterday? We won the game, thank God, and so almost no one is talking about it, but wow, Brad Allen’s officiating crew was absolutely brutal. Coming into the game, the media buzz was that the Bills were lucky to have Allen’s crew, as they had won six times in a row with them working our games. But I smelled a rat watching the pre-game show when I saw Sarah Thomas, the NFL’s first female official, engaging in friendly banter with Trevor Lawrence with her hand affectionately resting on his shoulder.

Take a look at the video I recorded of it, folks!

You don’t have to be a body language expert to see the problem there. Why is she touching him at all? You’d think that any official but especially a female one, who will receive more scrutiny, would avoid this sort of thing. In any case, Thomas was the down judge, and while there was one occasion where the Bills got a favorable spot, there were several where we got spotted short. And it wasn’t just Thomas, consider how many calls went against the Bills in this game.

• There was an early holding call on Ty Johnson who was inactive. No replay.
• Soon thereafter, there was a false start I didn’t see. Again no TV replay.
• In the second quarter, on 4^th and 2 at the Bills 9, Trevor Lawrence scrambled and slid too early but they gave him a first down. Luckily, we challenged the spot and it was overturned.
• With just over a minute to go in the half, Brandin Cooks made what looked like a great catch to put the Bills in field goal range. Tony Romo said the Bills had “nothing to worry about” as it was clearly a catch. But it was overturned even though none of the replays showed clear evidence that a mistake was made on the field.
• Jakobi Meyers made a similar catch for the Jags in the second quarter and it was ruled a catch.
• The Jags kicker, Cam Little, got to attempt a field goal just before the half that never should have happened. The clock had clearly hit zero when Lawrence snapped the ball, but after discussing the matter for what seemed like five minutes, the refs let Little try for a field goal (thankfully he missed) just for fun.
• Late in the 4^th quarter, after an incompletion on 3^rd and 8, the refs called Bills CB Christian Benford for a super soft holding penalty away from the play. Instead of a punt, the Jags went on to score a TD to take the lead

Meanwhile, the Jags came into the game as the most penalized team in the league but they weren’t called for a SINGLE live ball penalty in the game! (Just two false starts.) So, we’re supposed to believe they weren’t guilty of a single jersey tug in the entire game. But when I searched for coverage of this dismal performance by the officials, all I saw were a few bogus articles claiming that Jags fans think the refs favored the Bills. Please.

Come playoff time, the Bills get shafted every year. There are calls here or there that go there way, but there are also so many games, just like this one, where all or most of the critical calls go against them. They are the smallest market team in the NFL, which is making them play the well-rested Broncos now on 6 days rest, while the Bears will play the Rams on Sunday, even though both teams played Saturday. Yes, I know, #1 seeds typically get the Saturday games but how does it make sense this year? Add it all up and it’s pretty clear, the NFL hates the Bills.