Judon's tweets suggest he wasn't happy with refs in Pats-Dolphins

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What's been holding Matt Judon back over the last several weeks? If you ask him, the officials were a primary culprit in Sunday's regular-season finale.

The Patriots outside linebacker failed to record a sack or a quarterback hit in New England's 33-24 loss to the Miami Dolphins. He finished the day with just three tackles (one tackle for loss) and was flagged for unnecessary roughness for a hit on Tua Tagovailoa.

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In short, it wasn't the best day for Judon. But the Pro Bowl pass rusher apparently felt the Dolphins got away with a few holding penalties on him -- including this missed call on a Miami third down that Judon brought attention to Sunday night on Twitter.

The following morning, Judon posted an old DeMarcus Cousins interview clip featuring a message that certainly didn't seem like a coincidence.

"I hope the world can see now what's really going on out here, because it's getting ridiculous," Cousins said in that December 2016 interview.

Cousins' diatribe was directed at officials after they ejected him from a Kings-Trail Blazers game. So, either Judon is a big DeMarcus Cousins fan who was in a nostalgic mood Monday, or he feels the same way about Sunday's refs letting offensive linemen get away with holding him.

It's understandable why Judon is frustrated: After racking up 12.5 sacks and 25 QB hits in his first 13 games and looking like a borderline Defensive Player of the Year candidate, the fifth-year veteran has zero sacks and zero QB hits in his last four contests.

How much of Judon's steep decline in production should be attributed to offenses giving him more attention, uncalled holding penalties and/or his own performance? That's difficult to determine. But the Patriots need Judon on his A game next Saturday if they want to slow down Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card Round.

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