At the rate we are going I might just have at least one weird ass penalty to complain about every single week. I have soooo many questions about the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that the refs hit Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes with on the Patriots' second drive on Sunday.
The worst penalty of the NFL season so far
There are going to be questionable calls and terrible penalties every Sunday in the NFL, but this may have been the worst flag of the season.
Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
After the defense forced the Patriots to punt on their first drive, they lined up to try to stop them on a 3rd and 1 at the Bills' 38-yard line, attempting to force a field goal or worse. Let me tell you, as a former defensive player it is hard as hell to stop an offense from getting 1 yard. With all the new rules they have instituted since my day, I would think it would be even harder. And yet Bills linebackers Ty Powell and Brandon Spikes found a way to penetrate through the Patriots offensive line and drop Patriots running back Stevan Ridley for no gain (actually looked like a loss to me).
Naturally, guys are celebrating because, as I said, that is no small feat. I’m watching the TV and I see a flag go up and instantly I’m like, “Surely they didn’t flag them for excessive celebration.” Hell, nobody was dancing or anything. In fact, the only guy I saw celebrating was Spikes doing his normal “hammer and nail” deal. Now I normally watch the games without sound so that I am more influenced by what I actually see than what some announcer might say. However, I needed to know just what the hell was going on so I turned the sound up.
Turns out the flag was not for a celebration, but instead for “unsportsmanlike conduct” on the Bills defensive end Hughes. Y’all have no idea how much I loathe that call if for no other reason than the fact that I think grown men knocking the shit out of each other play after play should have a right to act “unsportsmanlike” from time to time, or at least what some jackass in a suit would consider “unsportsmanlike.” So I’m prepared to see some weak-ass action thing Hughes did that the referees overreacted to, especially after he kept repeatedly asking, “What did I do?” Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw on that replay, though.
Mind you, before they actually pulled up the replay angle, the announcer was droning on and on as if Hughes had definitely done something to warrant the flag because he got a in a shoving match earlier in the game. Come to find out Hughes was flagged for ... drum roll please ... patting his teammate Powell on the helmet as he got up off the pile. Yes, the same Powell who made the play to get them off the field on 3rd and 1 -- I bullshit you not.
(GIF via The Big Lead/Michael Shamburger)
Now you could say it was “no harm, no foul” because the Patriots were likely to kick a field goal after not making that first down and they eventually kicked a field goal later on that drive, right? But what if they miss the longer field goal? Or what if they had gone on to score a touchdown? There wasn’t any damn way to know at the time that they wouldn’t and that call never should have been made. Oh the flag might have been thrown, sure, but how in the hell do none of the other refs step in and say to the guy who threw the flag “Hey, that was his teammate dumbass”?! Unreal.
That is why coaches should have the option of having anything reviewed because I would love to see the crew who worked that game Sunday come back from reviewing the situation and say they were still enforcing the penalty, and do it with a straight face. I sure as hell hope the whole crew is fined for allowing it to stand in the first place because it was just that ridiculous.
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