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Colts DE fined for questionable Week 10 play on Bills QB Josh Allen

Indianapolis Colts defender Dayo Odeyingbo has been fined for his Week 10 punches on Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

Kyle Silagyi

Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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NFL players are generally ejected from contests—with no exceptions—if they throw a punch, but the league didn’t follow its well-established protocol in the fourth quarter of the Buffalo Bills’ Week 10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. 

Buffalo faced a fourth-and-one deep in Indianapolis territory early in the fourth quarter, and the Bills, as they are wont to do, relied on their 6-foot-5, 240-pound quarterback to pick up the necessary yardage. Josh Allen took the snap from under center while his teammates collapsed in around him, attempting to create enough force to push the signal-caller a few yards up-field; this is an oft-visited part of Buffalo’s playbook, but what made this particular play a bit different was the reaction of Colts defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo. The 25-year-old started throwing punches after Allen got past him, with one connecting with the passer’s arm and the other hitting him in the helmet.

No penalty was called on the field despite the uber-obvious contact. The NFL corrected its oversight on Saturday afternoon, however, fining Odeyingbo $10,919 for his fourth-quarter punches.

Some fans, perhaps rightfully, initially argued that Odeyingbo wasn’t penalized because he was attempting to punch the ball from Allen’s grip and force a turnover. This is a completely legal maneuver and method that even the Bills frequently deploy (cornerback Christian Benford forced a first-quarter fumble in Week 10 by punching the ball out of Adonai Mitchell’s hands); that said, Odeyingbo’s strikes were nowhere near the ball. His first punch hit Allen’s right arm while the signal-caller was holding the ball with his left. The strike on his head obviously wouldn’t have freed the ball.

One could argue that Odeyingbo wasn’t attempting to directly punch Buffalo’s quarterback, but that’s ultimately what occurred, and thus, a fine was issued. He’ll have the opportunity to appeal the fine, but the footage looks pretty cut and dry.

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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