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Bills OT Spencer Brown speaks about frustrating officiating in Week 6 win vs. Jets

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown commented on the performance of the officiating crew in the team's Week 6 win over the New York Jets.

Kyle Silagyi

Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK
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With the frequency with which yellow flags were seen on screen during the Buffalo Bills’ Week 6 Monday Night Football win over the New York Jets, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were watching a Pittsburgh Steelers game.

There were an astounding 22 accepted penalties throughout the contest, 11 on each club for a total of 204 yards. The game was filled with questionable and generally head-scratching penalties, including seven pass-interference calls and a third-quarter roughing the passer penalty on defensive end A.J. Epenesa that was simply absurd; it’s not as though every call was egregious, but when each team tallies double-digit penalties, what is the constant?

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The officiating crew’s performance received ridicule from fans, pundits, and players alike, with Buffalo offensive tackle Spencer Brown talking about the officials after the matchup. Brown, who himself was penalized three times in the contest, spoke about the seemingly arbitrary consistency with which penalties are called, stating that, while frustrating, there’s nothing he can do but adjust accordingly.

“[I can’t] finish anymore, I’ve got to lay them down nice and easy,” Brown said, per WGRZ’s Jon Scott. “I feel bad for A.J. [Epenesa], that’s a sack off his career right there. No one’s going to listen to my opinion on this, but I think it’s pretty insane that guys can’t go out there and play football like we were told to when we were little kids. 

“But it is what it is. We move on and learn from it and know you can’t be doing that, hurt your team. If I don’t do that, we have a pass interference downfield, we’re not in second-and-long anymore, move the sticks and keep the drive going. Just can’t be doing it.”

Brown went on to say that seeing penalties called at such a rate makes players “a little more hesitant on your intention of what you’re doing” because “you’re more aware . . . that they’re looking for stuff to call.” Players, thus, can’t perform to the fullest of their abilities, as they’re preoccupied with whether their standard technique will be flagged by officials. While, again, aggravating, Brown realizes all he can do is play within the rules.

“It is tough,” Brown said. “I mean, I could sit here and b**** about it all day long, but that’s what the rules are. Got to adapt to what the rules are and play within those and not hurt your team like I did [Monday]. Move on.”

The right tackle's three penalties on Monday night were the most he’s taken in a single game since Week 15 of the 2021 NFL season, and it’s the first time Buffalo has taken double-digit penalties thus far this year. Per WIVB’s Nick Veronica, the Bills’ Week 6 showdown with the Jets featured the most penalty yards of any NFL game this season; though officiating is a constant concern in the contemporary NFL, it looks as though Buffalo’s recent matchup with New York was a particularly egregious anomaly. 

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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