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Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was more than a little frustrated with referees after an apparent missed call against the Philadelphia Eagles, and many on the internet appeared to share the sentiment.
With the Bills driving into the red zone late in the first half of the November 26 game, Allen was flushed out of the pocket and pulled down on what appeared to be a horse-collar tackle. Not only was the hit not called by referees, but after a huddle they handed Allen a penalty for intentional grounding — drawing some strong pushback from CBS analyst Tony Romo.
Many fans took to social media to share their displeasure with the call, along with a series of other controversial penalties and non-calls in the first half.
Fans Take Issue With Referees
The series turned disastrous for the Bills after the non-call, as they missed a third-down pass and then had a field goal blocked. Despite the rough ending, they were able to go into halftime with a 17-7 lead.
The missed call on the apparent horse-collar tackle — along with the subsequent penalty on Allen for intentional grounding — led to a very strong reaction on social media.
“My goodness the Bills just got robbed,” wrote NFL reporter Adam Schein on X. “Missed horse collar. Clearly Not intentional grounding. Now FG blocked. Yoooooo”
Others pointed out that Allen was left with a torn jersey near the collar after the play, which was more apparent proof of the uncalled penalty.
“Josh Allen’s jersey is completely torn. Not sure how it’s not a horse collar. The ref had a perfect view too lmao. Insane,” wrote reporter Bradley Gelber.
The intentional grounding penalty was not the only controversial call to hurt the Bills. Others noted that the Eagles appeared to hold a Bills receiver on a critical third-down play.
“That was defensive pass interference committed by Darius Slay on that third-down throw intended for Trent Sherfield Sr,” wrote Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News. “The officials have not had a great first half.”
Second Controversial Grounding Call on Josh Allen
This is now the second time that Allen was hit with a controversial — and costly — intentional grounding call. He was also flagged for grounding late in the first half against the Cincinnati Bengals on November 5, pushing the Bills out of scoring range.
Allen overthrew wide receiver Gabe Davis on what looked to be a miscommunicated route, but referees huddled and threw a flag on Allen for grounding.
After a nearly identifcal missed pass for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett was not flagged, former NFL coach Tony Dungy took to social media to call out officials and defend Allen.
“Two weeks ago we were told by @NFLOfficiating that this was intentional grounding. Yesterday it was not. Is it or isn’t it? Please let us know,” Dungy wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Allen also took issue with the call, saying he had never seen it called a penalty before.
“I’ve never seen that call in my life,” Allen said, via Pro Football Talk. “It’s an option route. Gabe can sit down or go. I wasn’t pressured. They decided to make that call and unfortunately didn’t allow us to get points there. I wouldn’t do anything different. I’m expecting him to run a go, he made the read to stop. That’s what it is.”
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