After Further Review: Jets-Buffalo

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 3-28 (leading to one Jets first down)
Jets 4-27 (leading to one Bills first down)

Note: This does not include penalties that are declined or off-set.

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

Jets Penalties

  • 12 men in the huddle. It’s difficult to know who was at fault here but the Jets had a running back, two tight ends and three receivers and nobody seemed to realize until they were in formation
  • False start on Max Mitchell. Entered as a jumbo package tight end, flinched before the ball was snapped, immediately departed again.
  • Delay of game on a punt. This wasn’t deliberate but Aaron Glenn felt the play clock should have been reset as the ball wasn’t spotted immediately.

Bills Penalties

  • Offensive holding on Sedrick Van Pran-Granger to negate a 21-yard run. Harrison Phillips got good penetration and was dragged down as the runner hit the hole.
  • Unsportsmanlike conduct on TJ Sanders. A very clear shove on Arian Smith, who fell to the turf.

Penalties warranting further discussion or explanation

Jets Penalties

  • Keidron Smith face mask penalty on a 3rd-and-20 stop. He definitely got his hand on the facemask but did try to let go before there was a grab or twist. The ball carrier’s head got a bit twisted around anyway, not really because of Smith’s actions, which ensured the flag would be thrown.

Bills Penalties

  • Unsportsmanlike conduct on AJ Epenesa. The replay they showed on TV had Epenesa getting shoved in the back by Stone Smartt and not doing much else but they started the replay too late because Epenesa started it with a shove on Smartt. This could have been off-setting though.

Notable no-calls etc

Here were some of the other notable missed calls, replay situations and controversial moments:

  • A Brady Cook incompletion, off the hands of Kene Nwangwu in the flat, seemed to be a lateral and should have been a loss of yardage as it went out of bounds;
  • The Ray Davis fumble, recovered by Jermaine Johnson, was very close but he did have an elbow down before the ball came loose;
  • Jeremy Ruckert was clearly poked in the eye while blocking on a kick return and that should have been illegal hands to the face;
  • Davis was correctly ruled to have broken the plane before he was down on his touchdown, as he essentially surfed over the line by landing on top of Jamien Sherwood;
  • Khalil Herbert’s 3rd-and-8 run was correctly ruled just short of a first down as his knee was down before he fell forward to get to the marker;
  • Isaiah Williams’ sideline catch was correctly ruled complete and correctly spotted just short of a first down;
  • Cam Jones got away with an illegal block in the back on a kick return;
  • The Jets had a fumble recovery overturned by replay review but this was correct because the runner’s knee was down before the ball started to come loose;
  • Nwangwu lost a fumble but the play had already been blown dead, correctly, because his forward progress was already stopped;
  • Reggie Gilliam and Kobe King were engaged in a bear-hug and took each other down on a kickoff return. It was surprised to see no holding call there, although perhaps it was deemed to be a violation both ways.

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