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The New England Patriots‘ Matthew Judon has become a fan favorite and he even won an award for being the friendliest player on the team with the local media.
However, there are some outside of Patriots Nation who consider Judon a bit unsavory on the field.
Multiple Analysts Call Matthew Judon a Dirty Player
The Athletic’s Michael Salfino went as far as to call Judon “a dirty player” for what he described as a trip of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen during the team’s Week 16 clash.
Here is Salfino’s tweet:
NFL insider Dov Kleinman tweeted a video of the play Salfino was referring to in his accusatory post.
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Salfino’s quote about “it’s every week with this guy” has to be referencing Judon’s hits on players like the New York Jets’ Zach Wilson and the Cleveland Browns Baker Mayfield.
Here is a look at both of those plays:
Salfino wasn’t the only one pointing fingers at Judon. Joe DiBiase of the Buffalo Bills Radio Network also took umbrage with Judon. He likened it to the sort of dirty play NBA players can be guilty of when they intentionally slide their foot under an opposing player who has jumped in hopes of having them sprain their ankle on the landing.
This reminds me of when an NBA player goes up for a jump shot and a defender puts their foot where the shooter is going to land, and turns (his) head to make it look like he didn’t mean it. Shooter rolls an ankle, sprains ankle, etc. Filthy play in the NBA, filthy play in the NFL.
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Not Everyone is as Quick to Label Judon Dirty
Can you trust a member of the local Boston area media to be objective on this subject? Maybe not, but this is a pretty logical take.
NESN’s Dakota Randall wrote: “Honestly, it’s hard to tell one way or another. You could make cases both ways. That said, if Judon’s intentions were to knock Allen off of his game, he failed miserably. The Bills quarterback was excellent in Buffalo’s victory, throwing for 314 yards and three touchdowns while adding 64 yards on the ground.”
The play looks a little suspicious, but some of the takes–especially DiBiase’s–seem a little over the top. Salfino’s non-specific linkage to the plays that resulted in injury to Wilson and others is also a little far-fetched. Those plays were nowhere close to dirty and thus it is a little unfair to make reference to them in connection to what could have been more of an inadvertent trip of Allen, or a much milder–yet still unnecessary–cheap shot.
There is a chance the two teams will meet in something of a rubber match in the playoffs. The Patriots still have an outside chance of winning the AFC East if they can beat the Miami Dolphins, but they need the Jets to pull off a mammoth upset over the Bills in Week 18.
In any case, Patriots-Bills Round 3 would be a major draw in the NFL Playoffs.
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