Penalties have been an issue for the Bills all season and they continued to be an issue during Sunday’s 37-34 loss to the Jaguars.
The Bills were flagged 10 times over the course of the afternoon, including a pass interference call on Nickell Robey on a third down with just over three minutes left to play that gave Jacksonville a first down. Blake Bortles would hit Allen Hurns for a touchdown two plays later and the Bills lost when they turned the ball over on downs during their final possession of the game.
After the game, Robey said that the loss “came down to that last call” and lamented what he called the “worst call” he’s ever seen in his life. In a league with as many blown calls as the NFL, it’s hard to call something the worst but Robey certainly appeared to make a clean play on the pass intended for Bryan Walters in real time and on replays.
“It was just a terrible call,” Robey said, via the Buffalo News. “I’m still here waiting for an answer: What did I do? I really feel like it was a terrible call. My teammates feel the same. They can vouch for me and so can my coaches. One thing I know here right now, we’re still together here trying to put the puzzle together and come away with all these wins but sometimes I feel like calls are questionable. And the call today was terrible. I don’t see where the contact was made, where any of that was made.”
Robey continued to blast the officials for not explaining the call on the field and that there’s no accountability for bad calls other than an apology during the week that doesn’t do much to help a team that lost a game on Sunday.
We can’t quite agree with Robey’s take that the Bills lost solely because of that call, especially when they had the ball after Jacksonville scored and three failed cracks at gaining a yard that would have continued the drive. We will agree that the league’s unwillingness or inability to address officiating inconsistencies is an increasingly maddening part of NFL Sundays.
