After Further Review: Jets-Bills Officiating

By popular demand, we're again going to have a post after each game that breaks down some of the controversial decisions from the officiating crew in the game.

Penalty Count

Bills 11-106 (leading to three Jets first downs)
Jets 6-49 (leading to one Bills first downs)

Plays where the call was obvious, uncontroversial or not visible on broadcast footage

Jets Penalties

  • False start by Josh Andrews (one play after he had flinched and got away with it, causing a Bills penalties).
  • False start by Mekhi Becton. The Jets were doing really well with pre-snap penalties but now they've started to come thick and fast.
  • Illegal contact on Pierre Desir. This happened off screen but ultimately didn't matter because his man (Stefon Diggs) made a first down catch anyway.
  • Becton illegal formation because he was off the line of scrimmage. Another pre-snap penalty from Becton who is so big he looks like he's off the line even when he isn't but officials will be looking out for this so if his front foot is off the line as it was here, it will get called. This negated a rare second half first down and the only successful downfield pass of the second half for the Jets.
  • George Fant holding penalty. Threw his man to the ground negating another second half first down on Sam Darnold's scramble.

Bills Penalties

  • Mario Addison jumps offside. Clearly jumped a step early and the Jets couldn't take advantage as their free play was just a run that was blown up.
  • Ike Boettger holding on Henry Anderson. A clear call here as Anderson got upfield and Boettger reached across his chest with a handful of jersey.
  • Brian Winters illegal man downfield. Obvious call here as Josh Allen hesitated and Winters took off downfield too early for the screen pass.
  • Justin Zimmer personal foul after Darnold's first interception. This happened offscreen and wasn't replayed.
  • Winters false start.

Penalties warranting further discussion or explanation

Jets Penalties

  • Quinnen Williams roughing the passer. Once again Williams was unfortunate in that he made helmet-to-helmet contact on the quarterback even though he tried to hold up from making forcible contact. This is in danger of affecting him because later in the game he had chances to pressure and appeared to be coming in slower because he was so fearful of a penalty.
  • Connor McGovern unnecessary roughness penalty after Darnold's late interception. An almost comically late hit.

Bills Penalties

  • Ed Oliver neutral zone infraction. This was the play where Andrews flinched to draw him off but it was too imperceptible for the officials to notice in real-time.
  • Tre' White pass interference on Breshad Perriman. Overly physical coverage as White pushed off at the catch-point. Some officials might have let White get away with this though.
  • Micah Hyde pass interference on Perriman. A really soft call where the contact was minor at worst and didn't seem to affect his ability to make a play on the ball.
  • Holding on Siran Neal on a Jets punt. He was double-teaming the gunner - Lamar Jackson - and dragged him down.
  • Illegal formation to negate Gabriel Davis' touchdown. The announcers suggested that Davis perhaps wasn't on the line of scrimmage but actually he was. The problem was on the right side of the line where the tight end and wide receiver were both off the line. The fact that the right tackle was also quite far back - not that they called him for being off the line as they did with Becton - may have affected where UDFA tight end Reggie Gilliam lined up.
  • Holding on Taiwan Jones on another Jets punt. This time the hold came downfield, after the return man caught the ball. Jones grabbed Vyncint Smith to prevent him from getting across to make the tackle.
  • Hyde personal foul for a helmet-to-helmet hit on a defenseless player. Obviously this was the right call and it knocked Perriman out of the game. Could Hyde have been ejected though? An ejection applies if the player has an unobstructed path to making the hit (clearly this was the case) and if the contact was avoidable (what saved Hyde here was that he led with the shoulder rather than the head so although it was still forcible contact, the officials obviously didn't deem it ejection-worthy).

Notable no-calls

There wasn't much to gripe about in this game. The officials did pick up one flag, but correctly so. Brian Poole forced Cole Beasley to the sideline and then even if he got back inbounds it would have been illegal touching. This also renders any penalty on Poole or the fact of whether or not it was caught before it hit the turf (it wasn't) a moot point.

The officials missed an obvious block in the back on Ryan Griffin on one punt, although they called a hold on the Bills anyway.

Finally, the two Allen fumbles - one where he was down - and one by Darnold were all clear-cut and definitely dealt with correctly by the on-field officials.

Let us know what we missed - or misinterpreted - in the comments...