The Baltimore Ravens blew a big lead against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, and the officials made life more difficult for them on the final drive of the game.
With the scored tied 20-20 and the Bills facing 1st-and-15 near midfield, Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens came on a blitz and hit Josh Allen a split second after the quarterback released the ball. The pass fell incomplete. Stephens did not hit Allen in the head and neck area or stuff him into the ground. He also did not lead with the crown of his helmet, but he was flagged for roughing the passer. You can see the play below:
A bad roughing the passer is called on the #Ravens. https://t.co/LBBE5GOM63
— NFL Unlimited (@NFLUnlimited) October 2, 2022
Even CBS rules analyst and former NFL official Gene Steratore did not believe the hit warranted a flag.
This was a hard hit on Josh Allen in #BUFvsBAL, but the contact was neither late nor to the head/neck area. Allen did fall awkwardly which always adds an additional layer of difficulty for these plays, but IMO that did not warrant a flag for Roughing the Passer. pic.twitter.com/0Wu978qEQu
— Gene Steratore (@GeneSteratore) October 2, 2022
The penalty gave Buffalo a first down at the Ravens’ 26. Allen and company took care of the rest and drove the ball all the way to the 1 before kicking a game-winning field goal. Had the call not been made, the Bills would have been faced with 2nd-and-15 at the 41, which is a much more difficult situation.
There is no way to know if the Bills would have won anyway, but the NFL will almost certainly be hearing from the Ravens about that roughing the passer call. We have seen plenty of bad ones over the years, and that was among the worst.
