Refs Miss Critical Penalty vs. Bills, NFL Fines Patriots' Player After The Fact

The Buffalo Bills have had a rough week since their narrow loss to the New England Patriots last Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.

Whether it be injuries that resulted from the game or simply just the reality of the ramifications that now come with the divisional loss, Buffalo’s players and coaches—whether they want to openly admit it or not—have likely had lingering thoughts of New England and third-year quarterback Drake Maye in the back of their minds over the past several days.

Patriots’ player punished for game-sealing play in fourth quarter

Now, to make matters worse, news broke Sunday afternoon that Patriots’ second-year running back Tre’Veyon Henderson was recently fined for an infraction on the game-sealing play against Buffalo last weekend . . . and it’s one he should’ve apparently been flagged for.

If fans’ memories are foggy, the sequence in question was a 12-yard completion to tight end Hunter Henry from the aforementioned Maye on 3rd-and-10 with 55 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the matchup.

Off play-action to Henderson, the third-year quarterback rolled to his right and found Henry in the flat for an easy pass-and-catch to move the chains and secure a critical victory in the AFC East.

Some fans and outside critics questioned Bills’ cornerback Maxwell Hairston’s effort on the play, thinking the former University of Kentucky playmaker could’ve attempted to stop the much larger Henry in his tracks before he was able to cross the first-down marker.

Forget the fine, Henderson’s infraction normally calls for a flag

However, what might peeve Bills Mafia even more is to know that Henderson should’ve been penalized for a chop block on the play, which he has now subsequently been fined for.

Following the fake hand off, Henderson went low on Buffalo’s rookie linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr, who was blitzing on the play.

The Patriots’ runner went low and easily flipped Elarms-Orr into the air and onto the ground . . . which allowed Maye to remain unscathed and quickly find his open target.

And, now seven days later, ESPN reporter Mike Reiss posted the news on X prior to New England’s afternoon outing with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday that the former Ohio State runner was slapped with a $12,537 fine for the illegal chop block.

Ultimately, he wasn’t hit with an infraction during the game, though, which is clearly an issue. The NFL outlawed all chop blocks prior to the 2016 season.

Furthermore, if the league finds a play to be worthy of a fiscal punishment a week later, then shouldn’t that exact same play have been penalized during a very critical point in a divisional matchup last Sunday?

Surely, that should’ve been the case . . . yet, just as many things have gone the Patriots’ way in the past, the NFL’s referees somehow turned a blind eye to the massive miscue on Henderson’s part only later to have the league office hand down a miniscule “slap” on the wrist after the fact.

Penalty should’ve proved costly for Patriots in pivotal moment

Had Henderson been penalized, then New England would’ve likely had to punt after being pushed back 15 yards on third down. Instead, nothing happened aside from a minor financial penalty being given to the Patriots’ playmaker.

Now, following back-to-back victories, the Patriots are right back in the thick of contention within the AFC and the AFC East.

They could even leapfrog Buffalo in the standings, which Bills ON SI’s Randy Gurzi just reported on following Sunday afternoon's slate of NFL games.

It’s funny how that happens, isn’t it?

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