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Mike Vrabel: Bills not having offensive hold vs. Patriots ‘hard for me to understand’
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- Mike Vrabel: Bills not having offensive hold vs. Patriots ‘hard for me to understand’
Mike Vrabel hasn’t been shy about voicing his thoughts when it comes to the NFL officials.
That remained the case Monday during his weekly appearance on WEEI .
“I’ll say this: The Bills lead the NFL in offensive holds, and I’ll leave it at that,” the Patriots coach said . “And that would be hard for me to understand how the team that is coming into the game leading, and that’s how they play, didn’t have one yesterday. That’s hard for me to understand.”
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The Patriots fell to the Buffalo Bills, 35-31, in Week 15 . The loss snapped New England’s 10-game win streak and stopped the team from clinching its first AFC East championship since 2019.
While the Patriots took their foot off the gas after taking a 21-point lead into the half, the officiating was also questionable at times. There was a missed holding call on Bills tackle Dion Dawkins in the third quarter, then Carlton Davis was called for defensive pass interference on third down that ultimately led to James Cook scoring the game-winning touchdown.
“And they’re fine with that,” Vrabel said . “And again, that’s how they play. They’ve been successful, and they’ve been able to overcome those. And that was just my point, just if they’re there, call them.”
Vrabel also believes calls went in the favor of the Patriots, too.
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“We can debate Marcus Jones . I don’t think it was a catch, you know what I mean? Whether we think it’s a PI, that’s, that’s their call,” he said . “We have to know what the rules are. We have to know how they are calling it and what the mechanics are. Listen, if you’re not playing the football, the margin for error goes way, way, way down. So when you’re not playing the football and there’s perceived contact, or whatever it may be, the margin for error goes way, way down.”
The Patriots still sit atop the AFC East standings after Sunday’s loss, but the path to the division title got a bit harder because it can’t be clinched until Week 17 at the earliest .
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