Mike Vrabel helped cost his team a critical touchdown on Sunday afternoon.
The New England Patriots coach appeared to light up an official on the sideline late in the first half of their matchup with the Buffalo Bills. It doesn’t appear that Vrabel said much to the official in the moment, though he clearly wasn’t happy with the previous call on the field — which was a defensive holding call on Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones.
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“That’s a f***ing terrible f***ing call,” Vrabel was spotted saying to the official.
Regardless, the penalty completely changed the end of the first half for the Bills. The two penalties set them up with a first-and-goal, and led to a 2-yard touchdown run from Josh Allen three plays later.
Drake Maye was intercepted in the final seconds of the first half, too, which set up a 27-yard field goal for Tyler Bass. That ended up giving the Bills a three-point lead at the break.
Now, the Bills still could have scored had Vrabel not been hit with the penalty. It’s not fair to put the blame entirely on him, as Buffalo had already made it into scoring position. The holding call gave the Bills a fresh set of downs at the 11 yard line, too. But Vrabel cut that distance in half with his penalty, which made the score much easier.
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Allen and the Bills are looking for a fourth consecutive win to start the season on Sunday afternoon. The Patriots entered the game at 1-2 on the year, fresh off a 35-6 blowout loss at Jacksonville last week.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
