NFL

The rule word for word from the NFL:

“No player shall grab the inside collar of the back or the side of the shoulder pads or jersey, or grab the jersey at the name plate or above, and pull the runner toward the ground. This does not apply to a runner who is in the tackle box or to a quarterback who is in the pocket.

Note: It is not necessary for a player to pull the runner completely to the ground in order for the act to be illegal. If his knees are buckled by the action, it is a foul, even if the runner is not pulled completely to the ground.”

1. His hand was 100% above the name plate on the back. You can make a case he didn’t have much of a grip on it, but you can’t deny that his hand was there as he’s pulling down Allen which seems to fall under this rule IMO.

2. The word “side” is pretty ambiguous which is where this is hard to determine if the grab on the front is a classic horse collar. You can absolutely make a case that the front of the jersey is the side, or it’s not the side and I’d listen. Personally it think it’s clear that at least some part of the side of his jersey was grabbed, but the fronts not covered so this falls into a subjective area. The NFL should really clear this up in the rule book and call out if the front office the collar has the same rule as the side or back.

3. If you look back, he 1000000% grabs Allen’s facemask as he’s got his jersey. Stop it right when he first grabs the jersey, you can’t miss it. This at least should have been a facemask if the horse collar isn’t your flavor.

I’d be fine with the no call due to subjectivity and the ref being on the other side of the play and not seeing the grab of the back nameplate or facemask. My issue is the intentional grounding was also a subjective call, and one that tends to be pretty lenient for QBs.

Again, all of this doesn’t matter if the Cook doesn’t drop that pass that’s probably a TD or Bass shitting the bed. Also 5 or 6 of the Bills penalties were dumb penalties that Philly didn’t really commit and were procedural that didn’t have subjectivity. But the rest were post snap and called. What grinds my gears was that the only “subjective” calls made during the play almost always seems to be called against the Bills when you had obvious ones not called on Philly. The hit to Kincade was a headshot on the defenseless receiver, the PIs on the Sherfield and Diggs plays (which only one mattered if o remember right) among others.

Again, those shouldn’t have mattered. The refs didn’t make Cook drop that pass, Allen and Gabe miss at the end, or make Phillips be a dumb hot head. But it sure felt like one team was given the benefit of the doubt while the other wasn’t.