The New England Patriots surrendered a 24-7 halftime lead to the Buffalo Bills to ultimately lose the divisional game 35-31.
An excellent second half performance from Josh Allen and Co., which saw them score touchdowns on five consecutive drives, drew criticism from the Patriots’ defense. But speaking the day after the game on Dec. 15, head coach Mike Vrabel had some not-so-thinly veiled allusions to make concerning some of the officiating decisions during the game.
#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel on officiating in the game vs. the Bills, via @TheGregHillShow:
“They do have a difficult job. The consistency — sometimes I struggle with it. I’ll say this: the Bills lead the NFL in offensive holds, and I’ll leave it at that. That would be hard for me… pic.twitter.com/7IMSIDTJyu
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 15, 2025
“They do have a difficult job,” Vrabel said on The Greg Hill Show. “The consistency — sometimes I struggle with it. I’ll say this: the Bills lead the NFL in offensive holds, and I’ll leave it at that. That would be hard for me to understand — how a team coming into the game leading, and that’s how they play, didn’t have one yesterday. So that’s hard for me to understand.”
“And they’re fine with that,” Vrabel continued – referring to the Bills’ holding-prone style of play, “And again that’s how they play – they’ve been successful and they’ve been able to overcome those. That was just my point – if they’re there, call ’em.”
Vrabel on Questionable PI Call
Vrabel also seemingly had some issues with the pass interference penalty called on a Marcus Jones interception in the fourth quarter, arguing that whilst it was not a catch, he implied that perhaps the decision to penalize the former 2022 third-round pick.
“Whether we think it’s a PI, that’s their call. We have to know what the rules are, we have to know how they are calling it, what the mechanics are. If you’re not playing the football, the margin for error goes way, way, way down.”
The former Tennessee Titans head coach certainly has a legitimate cause for irritation with regards to the multiple missed holding calls that could have easily had the Bills penalized – particularly in the second half. At the same time, however, for any team that gives up a 17-point lead – AKA a three-score lead – to ultimately lose by 4, it must first look in the mirror.
The Patriots did not execute at the level they should have on either side of the ball, despite some perhaps questionable decision-making from the referees, and that was what lost them the game.
But – this will not stop Patriots fans from feeling rightly upset at being on the wrong end of multiple questionable decisions in a game that could have seen them clinch the division title for the first time since 2019.
