Bills-Jets roughing the passer penalties, explained: How controversial calls helped swing momentum in Week 6 thriller

Entering into the Bills and Jets’ duel on “Monday Night Football”, many were enticed. The matchup represented an eye-catching clash of styles between AFC East foes — Buffalo is the offensive juggernaut, while New York’s game plan revolves around defense.

What the Week 6 finale turned into was a flag fest soundtracked by the referees’ whistles. Canaries spawned across the MetLife Stadium turf, each one appearing more preposterous than the last. Make a solid tackle? You get a flag. Make slight contact with a pass-catcher while the ball sails three stories over his head? Look out for a pass interference call. Have an “impropriate conversation” with a ref? Yup, another penalty.

The matchup descended into chaos shortly after the opening whistle. When the dust settled on the 23-20 Bills victory, the true nature of the absurdity of the contest was made all the more clear.

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The Bills and Jets combined for 22 penalties on the night. They surrendered 204 yards worth of territory due to their indiscretions, a league-high mark this season.

There were numerous infractions that prompted raised eyebrows. Two were especially notable, however: a pair of roughing the passer penalties, one which befell Buffalo, the other shattering New Yorkers’ spirits.

Here’s a closer look at the plays in question, as well as their contribution to the game’s final result.

Bills-Jets roughing the passer penalties, explainedControversy hung over MetLife Stadium like a cloud. When Aaron Rodgers dropped back in the pocket on third-and-eight with 9:32 left in the third quarter, it materialized into something very real and — to many — very frustrating.

The situation was as follows: Rodgers got collected by linebacker AJ Espenesa and brought down to the canvas.

Epenesa is called for roughing the passer pic.twitter.com/V9StNdVXdt

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) October 15, 2024The sack didn’t look all that out of the ordinary — at least, until a bolt leapt out of an official’s pocket.

Espenesa was deemed to have committed a roughing the passer foul. His sin was having the audacity to land on top of Rodgers with his full body weight after bringing him down. It was tenuous reasoning, at best.

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“It seemed a little ridiculous,” Rodgers said of the roughing the passer penalties postgame. “Some of them seemed really bad. Including the roughing the passer on me, that’s not roughing the passer. We might as well play Sarcastaball if we’re going to call those things.”

“It seemed a little ridiculous. Some of them seemed really bad, including the roughing the passer on me, that’s not roughing the passer. We might as well play Sarcastaball if we’re going to call those things.”

Aaron Rodgers on the penalties tonight: pic.twitter.com/FeJ7zfeaVE

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) October 15, 2024The call paid immediate dividends to New York, which was granted four new downs as opposed to fourth-and-infinity. The Jets raced down the field and brought themselves to the cusp of the goal line, eventually settling for a game-tying field goal.

The Bills weren’t too pleased with the referees’ judgment. They wouldn’t have to wait long to receive a bit of officiating fortune of their own, though.

Facing second-and-11 from New York’s 19, Josh Allen got caught in Javon Kinlaw’s embrace after misfiring. The Buffalo gunslinger fell to the earth, appearing to exaggerate the nature of Kinlaw’s collision as he did so.

Roughing the passer called on the Jets. 15 yard penalty. #BUFvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/T4pUrFNNWQ

— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) October 15, 2024The duplicity paid off, as Kinlaw was whistled for roughing the passer, presumably for wrapping up Allen near his head and “tossing” him toward the ground, giving the Bills a fresh set of downs inside the Jets’ 10.

Tyler Bass converted a short-range field goal four plays later. Those three points would be the difference as Buffalo put some distance between itself and the rest of the AFC East pack.

With the wind howling and the kicking game for both sides proving fairly inconsistent — Bass missed a PAT and a 47-yard effort earlier, while Greg Zuerlein saw two intermediate attempts clank off the uprights — those additional yards were all the more valuable.

Shoddy refereeing was at the heart of Monday night’s offering between the Bills and the Jets. Perhaps it was only right for the game’s result to hinge largely on officials’ interpretations of fairly innocuous plays.

Whether the NFL will be happy about such a dynamic remains to be seen.