NFL referees seem to love making ridiculous penalty calls supposedly for the protection of quarterbacks. So it's especially egregious when they decide not to throw a flag when a quarterback is actually tackled in dangerous fashion.
For some reason, the refs in the game between the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles had no interest in calling a horsecollar tackle on Haason Reddick after he took down Josh Allen by the collar.
Instead, they had the audacity to call intentional grounding on the Bills quarterback.
Watch: Refs absurdly ignore horsecollar tackle on Josh Allen
It's illegal to grab an opponent by the inside collar of their shoulder pads or jersey and pull them to the ground. That's exactly what Reddick did to Allen. And he totally got away with it.
The sequence was hugely important at that point in the game too. The Bills were at the Philadelphia three-yard line when Reddick dropped Allen. If a horsecollar penalty had been called, they would have been given a new set of downs at the goal line. At worst, the horsecollar and intentional grounding would have offset, leaving Buffalo with a second-and-goal from the three-yard line.
Instead, no horsecollar was called. A very dubious intentional grounding was. That put Allen and company in a third-and-16 situation with goal to go. After an incompletion, Buffalo attempted a 34-yard field goal, which was blocked.
So the Bills came away with no points on the drive when it likely should have been extended. Or they could have had a much closer kick to attempt.
The Eagles ended up getting the ball back but a fumble by Jalen Hurts put the ball back in Allen's hands with a minute remaining in the first half. He led the Bills to a touchdown with 12 seconds left. Buffalo led 17-7 at the half.
