Despite an impressive performance from Bills quarterback Josh Allen in Week 3 against the Vikings, there was a miscue from the Buffalo offense on the first play of the second quarter that NFL officials called a fumble.
NFL Week 3 worst call of the week: Forward pass or fumble for Josh Allen?
This was a call the officials should have gotten right in Allen’s first NFL win.
On first-and-goal at Minnesota’s 6-yard line, Allen tried to hand off a pass to running back Marcus Murphy. They botched the timing and the ball bounced off of Murphy, becoming loose on the field. Allen eventually recovered the ball on the Vikings’ 18-yard line.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott, as well as independent sports analysts, thought it was clearly an incomplete pass, but the officials declared it a fumble.
When you look at the game footage, you can see Allen had possession of the ball and moved it in a forward motion before the ball hit Murphy. Announcers Tony Romo and Jim Nantz agreed the ball was moving forward before making contact with the running back.
McDermott even threw a challenge flag, but the officials stood by their call.
Former NFL official Gene Steratore disagreed with the decision as well. “By rule, possession, forward movement of the arm, that’s a legal forward pass by definition,” he said after the game.
It’s just another example of a referee missing the mark with their ruling. Despite clear evidence from several angles, the officials still somehow got the call wrong.
Even though the Bills lost some significant yardage on the play, they made up for it with a horse collar penalty by Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr on the next play. Allen eventually capitalized on the drive and scored a touchdown. And ultimately, the Bills won, 28-6.
