Bills-Seahawks 1st half ends with a bizarre sequence of botched calls and delays
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A bizarre sequence at the end of the first half of the Seahawks' 31-25 win over Buffalo on Monday night led to several minutes of confusion and a missed 54-yard field goal by Bills kicker Dan Carpenter
Carpenter, initially attempting a 53-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the half, appeared to be injured when Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman went offside and fell into Carpenter's legs. The play was blown dead because of Sherman's penalty. Sherman also appeared to get away with an unnecessary roughness penalty that wasn't called by Walt Anderson's officiating crew
"Ridiculous," Bills coach Rex Ryan said after the game. "Absolutely ridiculous. [Officials' explanation] doesn't matter [because] it was wrong. It's clear what happened: the guy [Sherman] roughed our kicker. Jumps offside and roughs our kicker
Referee Walt Anderson defended his decision after the game
I didn't feel like the actions and the contact, because we were shutting the play down, warranted a foul," he told a pool reporter after the game, adding that the stadium was "loud" and that Sherman might not have known officials had blown the play dead
"One of the things we're just looking for is does the player have a chance to realize that we're shutting the play down from that standpoint," Anderson said, "and whether or not he has an opportunity to avoid any type of contact once he realizes that we're getting the play shut down
Bills trainers ran onto the field to tend to Carpenter, who remained on the ground after being hit by Sherman. Because trainers entered the field of play, Carpenter was required to exit the game, leaving the Bills without a kicker for the end-of-half attempt
Sherman said he completely disagreed with Blandino's assessment that Anderson's crew did not make the correct call, saying "I didn't go for the kicker, I went straight for the ball
"[Carpenter] should have not kicked it, you know?" he told ESPN's Lisa Salters after the game. "Maybe he wanted to; I went for the ball. So when the ball gets tipped on a play, the rule is, there is no flag
Sherman disputed that the play was "dirty," telling reporters after the game, "I'm a pro. I've been in this league long enough. I know how hard it is to play. When you go for a block, that's what you do. You go for a block. Even if I was offsides, you still stop the play. You're not going to let him just kick the ball freely and let him have a free play. He could have made the decision not to kick the ball. He saw the flag before I did. He has a better vantage point than any of us
During the confusion over the penalty and ruling about Carpenter, players on both benches began to run toward the locker room for halftime. As that happened, Ryan and his brother, Bills assistant head coach/defense Rob Ryan, appeared to exchange words with Sherman
He's mean mugging like he's doing and whatever," Rex Ryan said of Sherman after the game. "The guy's a great player. I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought. I thought he roughed our kicker. It was a ridiculous play, no question. Then he's over on the sideline, taunting us. So I had some words. I think I said, 'You're too good of a player to act like an ass.' I think that's what I said
Asked after the game about the exchange with the Ryan brothers, Sherman said the stadium was too loud to hear what Rex was saying and that Rob was, "talking to himself
Added Ryan about Rex: "I didn't say anything. I just looked at him. He's one of those coaches that likes to talk. It's fun to see what he has to say
Officials then had to clear the field before the Bills, with rookie running back Jonathan Williams under center, had to spike the ball to stop the clock
With one second remaining on the clock, the Bills lined up for a 49-yard attempt but were called for delay of game after the play clock expired. On their ensuing 54-yard attempt, Carpenter missed wide right
Officials were standing over the ball on the second attempt with four seconds remaining on the play clock, which led to the delay of game
I usually try to give [the officials] the benefit of the doubt, but they lost control of that play," Bills long snapper Garrison Sanborn said after the game. "They didn't know what was going on, and they let the crazy situation affect it, in my opinion. They needed to pump it up [reset the play clock]. It's a very standard, simple thing they do all the time, and they never pumped up the clock back to restart it once we got the right [kicking] ball. So that was all on them
Added Rex Ryan: "From an officiating standpoint, I think you can do a little better than that
Anderson acknowledged the error after the game, "If there was that little time left, then that's probably a mistake on my part in not pumping the play clock back up. But I was not aware that it was that far into the play clock
Blandino later said on the NFL Network that Anderson should have re-set the game clock prior to the delay of game
We are absolutely going to address it," Blandino said of the entire sequence. "Anytime you have a sequence like that at any point during the game we want to see what happened and just walk through the steps of where the breakdown was. Regardless of the outcome of the game, we are going to address the situation with our crew
Carpenter, initially attempting a 53-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the half, appeared to be injured when Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman went offside and fell into Carpenter's legs. The play was blown dead because of Sherman's penalty. Sherman also appeared to get away with an unnecessary roughness penalty that wasn't called by Walt Anderson's officiating crew
"Ridiculous," Bills coach Rex Ryan said after the game. "Absolutely ridiculous. [Officials' explanation] doesn't matter [because] it was wrong. It's clear what happened: the guy [Sherman] roughed our kicker. Jumps offside and roughs our kicker
Referee Walt Anderson defended his decision after the game
I didn't feel like the actions and the contact, because we were shutting the play down, warranted a foul," he told a pool reporter after the game, adding that the stadium was "loud" and that Sherman might not have known officials had blown the play dead
"One of the things we're just looking for is does the player have a chance to realize that we're shutting the play down from that standpoint," Anderson said, "and whether or not he has an opportunity to avoid any type of contact once he realizes that we're getting the play shut down
Bills trainers ran onto the field to tend to Carpenter, who remained on the ground after being hit by Sherman. Because trainers entered the field of play, Carpenter was required to exit the game, leaving the Bills without a kicker for the end-of-half attempt
Sherman said he completely disagreed with Blandino's assessment that Anderson's crew did not make the correct call, saying "I didn't go for the kicker, I went straight for the ball
"[Carpenter] should have not kicked it, you know?" he told ESPN's Lisa Salters after the game. "Maybe he wanted to; I went for the ball. So when the ball gets tipped on a play, the rule is, there is no flag
Sherman disputed that the play was "dirty," telling reporters after the game, "I'm a pro. I've been in this league long enough. I know how hard it is to play. When you go for a block, that's what you do. You go for a block. Even if I was offsides, you still stop the play. You're not going to let him just kick the ball freely and let him have a free play. He could have made the decision not to kick the ball. He saw the flag before I did. He has a better vantage point than any of us
During the confusion over the penalty and ruling about Carpenter, players on both benches began to run toward the locker room for halftime. As that happened, Ryan and his brother, Bills assistant head coach/defense Rob Ryan, appeared to exchange words with Sherman
He's mean mugging like he's doing and whatever," Rex Ryan said of Sherman after the game. "The guy's a great player. I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought. I thought he roughed our kicker. It was a ridiculous play, no question. Then he's over on the sideline, taunting us. So I had some words. I think I said, 'You're too good of a player to act like an ass.' I think that's what I said
Asked after the game about the exchange with the Ryan brothers, Sherman said the stadium was too loud to hear what Rex was saying and that Rob was, "talking to himself
Added Ryan about Rex: "I didn't say anything. I just looked at him. He's one of those coaches that likes to talk. It's fun to see what he has to say
Officials then had to clear the field before the Bills, with rookie running back Jonathan Williams under center, had to spike the ball to stop the clock
With one second remaining on the clock, the Bills lined up for a 49-yard attempt but were called for delay of game after the play clock expired. On their ensuing 54-yard attempt, Carpenter missed wide right
Officials were standing over the ball on the second attempt with four seconds remaining on the play clock, which led to the delay of game
I usually try to give [the officials] the benefit of the doubt, but they lost control of that play," Bills long snapper Garrison Sanborn said after the game. "They didn't know what was going on, and they let the crazy situation affect it, in my opinion. They needed to pump it up [reset the play clock]. It's a very standard, simple thing they do all the time, and they never pumped up the clock back to restart it once we got the right [kicking] ball. So that was all on them
Added Rex Ryan: "From an officiating standpoint, I think you can do a little better than that
Anderson acknowledged the error after the game, "If there was that little time left, then that's probably a mistake on my part in not pumping the play clock back up. But I was not aware that it was that far into the play clock
Blandino later said on the NFL Network that Anderson should have re-set the game clock prior to the delay of game
We are absolutely going to address it," Blandino said of the entire sequence. "Anytime you have a sequence like that at any point during the game we want to see what happened and just walk through the steps of where the breakdown was. Regardless of the outcome of the game, we are going to address the situation with our crew
