Christian Barmore does not appear to be happy about his fine for a hit on Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
The New England Patriots defensive tackle was fined $12,913 for a fourth-quarter hit on Allen in the October 22 game, which was flagged for unnecessary roughness at the time. After the league officially announced the fine on October 28, Barmore took to social media to share his apparent disdain with the decision.
“Wow smh,” Barmore wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Barmore’s fine came after another controversial play involving Allen from last week’s game, which saw the Patriots upset the Bills.
Christian Barmore’s Fine Generates Controversy
Barmore was not the only one who disagreed with the fine. Patriots beat reporter Dakota Randall of NESN wrote that he believed the fine was a bit soft, even if it was in line with the league’s crackdown on hits to the quarterback.
Barmore appeared to hit Allen close to the release of the ball on a passing play, but put his weight into the quarterback as they fell onto the ground. The league has consistently called roughing the passer under these circumstances, Randall pointed out.
“Ultimately, the entire thing should be an eye-roller for fans who yearn for the days of real football,” Randall wrote. “But the reality is that this is the way the game now is adjudicated, and players need to adjust. Barmore likely received no sympathy from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who has a no-nonsense approach to coaching his players to the NFL rulebook.”
Josh Allen Called Out for ‘Flop’ Against Patriots
Allen had already faced scrutiny for another hit in the loss to the Patriots. Early in the third quarter, after missing on a pass to tight end Dawson Knox, Allen took a hit from Patriots cornerback Jack Jones and fell to the ground.
The hit drew a flag for roughing the passer, though Allen was criticized for what some saw as a flop to sell the contact to referees. Allen’s head appeared to jerk back as he was hit, and the Bills quarterback looked to referees for a flag.
Many fans took to social media to call out Allen, who has taken criticism in the past for selling contact to referees.
Though the Bills dropped a disappointing game to the Patriots, they were able to turn things around during a short week, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night to move to 5-3. Allen completed 31 of 40 passes for 324 yards with two passing touchdowns and another rushing touchdown in the win.
After the game, Bills head coach Sean McDermott said the team did a good job of upping their intensity level after the rough loss to the Patriots.
“Well, I mean, I could feel the team. They came out with an attitude and it started in the locker room, really.” McDermott said, via The Associated Press. “Stefon Diggs, there’s a little motivational couple of words he said to the team before we went out there. That’s what a leader does. He did a phenomenal job of basically setting the tone.”
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Patriots DT Issues Strong Reaction to Fine for Hit on Bills’ Josh Allen