Bills vs. Patriots
Getty
Bills vs. Patriots
The final undefeated team in the NFL, the Buffalo Bills, put their record on the line on NBC’s Sunday Night Football on Sunday when they faced the upstart New England Patriots. The Bills promptly saw their unbeaten streak disappear, as a picture-perfect 52-yard field goal by Patriots rookie kicker Andres Borregales with just 15 seconds remaining in the game lifted New England to a 23-20 win.
But at least one Bills player may see the disappointment of his team’s first defeat extend to his wallet. The Bills committed 11 penalties for 90 yards, but one of those infractions, a helmet-to-helmet hit on Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, may cost Buffalo fourth-year linebacker Terrel Bernard more than $17,000.
Why Bernard Faces Possible Punishment
With Maye already down, in the process of voluntarily sliding to complete a three-yard scramble, Terrell dove at the quarterback on the ground, driving his own helmet into Maye’s. The play immediately resulted in a penalty flag and subsequent unnecessary roughness call by referee Shawn Hochuli.
While the NFL does not hand out fines for every “unnecessary roughness” penalty, the use of a helmet and hitting a defenseless player are circumstances generally more likely to draw further discipline from the league beyond the penalty imposed on the field. In fact, the league can review a play and levy a fine on a player even in the offense did not even draw a referee’s flag.
However, if the league rules that Bernard’s hit on Maye was an “impermissible use of the helmet,” the fine set by the league would be $23,186 for a first offense, $46,371 for a second one.
At least one NFL analyst, Steven Ruiz of The Ringer, said that Bernard’s play “looked like a dirty hit.
The penalty was Bernard’s first of any kind this season, however. In Week 16 last season, in another game against the Patriots, Bernard drew an unnecessary roughness call for a hit on New England tight end Austin Hooper.
In that instance, the Bills linebacker was judged to have hit the “defenseless” Hooper with his shoulder, not his helmet, and drew a fine of $7,610.
Other Possible Punishments For Bills LB
If the NFL overlooks the helmet-clash by Bernard on Maye, or decides that the 2022 third-round draft pick out of Baylor used his helmet only inadvertently, the league could impose a fine simply for a “hit on a defenseless player.” That offense carries a first-offense price tag of $17,389, with $23,186 for a second offense.
While in theory, Bernard could also face a suspension for his hit on Maye, the possibility seems remote. Suspensions are usually doled out for repeat or even frequent offenders. But the call against him on Sunday was only the fifth penalty of Bernard’s career, and just the second for unnecessary roughness.
Hit Seemed to Wake Up Maye
Beyond the financial impact for the 26-year-old Bernard, the play with just 1:24 to go in the second quarter appeared to inspire Maye, giving the Patriots 15 yards and moving them from their own 49-yard line to the Bills’ 36 with a first down.
The drive ended with Borregales’ second of his three field goals without a miss, giving New England a 6-3 lead at halftime.
Bernard’s helmet-to-helmet hit “seemed to shock Maye’s game to life shortly before halftime,” wrote Ruiz. “In the second half, after that hit, Maye averaged over 10 yards per dropback with an 86 percent completion rate.”