A botched whistle from the officiating crew killed a live play for the New England Patriots in the third quarter of Monday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
Tom Brady was rolling out to the right sideline with Bills defenders in pursuit. Brady lofted a pass for Danny Amendola up the right sideline when whistles blew the play dead. Amendola caught the ball and had room to run but the play was ruled dead on the spot.
The whistle appeared to blow while the pass was in the air. However, the officials ruled to give the Patriots the ball at the spot of the catch, which amounted to a 14-yard gain. In addition, Bills head coach Rex Ryan was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for being in the sideline and interfering with the side judge.
In all, the Patriots gained 29 yards in field position on a play that could have given them even more.
By rule, if the whistle occurred with the pass in the air, it would be dead at that point. So the Patriots may have been given a bit of a benefit on the enforcement of the call.
The Patriots still had a first down following the play, but managed just four more yards before Stephen Gostkowski missed a 54-yard field goal wide right to keep New England’s lead at 10-3.
