Fans have turned on the officiating crew in Sunday’s Week 8 game between the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills.

On the Ravens’ opening drive of the second half at Highmark Stadium, what looked like a Derrick Henry touchdown was called back for holding, leaving them to settle for a 26-yard Tyler Loop field goal.

The Holding Flag and Claims Refs Favor Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills

“NFL refs up to their antics again,” Warren Sharp, the football analyst, posted on X, adding that the refs were “pulling TDs off the board for questionable calls.” The reaction that followed was no kinder.

The flag arrived late in a drive that had come alive early. Starting from their own 31, the Ravens converted a third-and-6 when emergency third-string quarterback Joe Fagnano found Rashod Bateman for 22 yards, and the Bills tacked on 15 more with a roughing-the-passer penalty.

Fagnano was in the game because Lamar Jackson, in his first game back from a three-week absence with an ankle injury, and Tyler Huntley had both been ruled out for the rest of the game. The Ravens came into Sunday 4-3 and fourth in the AFC North, while the Bills were 5-1 after their Week 7 bye.

The march covered 61 yards in eight plays before stalling in the red zone, and Loop’s kick trimmed the Bills’ lead to 16-10 with 11:28 left in the third quarter. The Bills needed six plays to answer, with Josh Allen hitting DJ Moore for 49 yards before James Cook III ran in from 5 yards out to restore a two-score cushion.

One fan, replying, brought the Bills’ quarterback into it: “Anything for Josh Allen. He needs all the help he can get.”

Another fan lumped the officials in with the Bills, reaching for a comparison to the Kansas City Chiefs: “The Bills and refs are what everyone thinks the Chiefs are. But people won’t admit it.”

The Bills have had rulings go against them, too. On their opening drive, Khalil Shakir was spun around into the end zone on a catch but ruled to have stepped out at the 1-yard line, and Allen punched it in himself on fourth-and-goal.

Later in the first quarter, a penalty wiped out a Bills fourth-down conversion, and Tyler Bass came on for a 56-yard field goal instead. Bass ranks No.13 on PFN’s Impact Rankings with a score of 81.3.

Through the early fourth quarter, the Bills had also been flagged more often, nine times for 82 yards to the Ravens’ seven for 38.

The Criticism Widens From One Flag to the Whole League

Most of the other reactions stayed on the call itself. Another fan needed only four words: “This is so bad.”

The language sharpened from another fan: “This is such an egregious call.”

For another fan, the problem ran deeper than one flag: “Every week the refs make a game-changing phantom call against the Ravens.”

One fan aimed past the crew at the league itself, writing, “They want to turn the sport into flag football so badly.” A broader verdict followed: “Embarrassing product that is only held together by wagering and fantasy leagues.”

The flag took away what would have been the Ravens’ second touchdown of the afternoon. Henry’s 2-yard run in the first quarter, set up by Broderick Washington Jr.’s interception of Allen, remained their only touchdown in three trips to the red zone. The other trip ended in a missed Loop field goal in the second quarter.

With 7:30 left in the fourth quarter, the Bills led 29-10, and the Ravens had 122 total yards.