Controversial offsides penalty gifts Jaguars field goal attempt before halftime vs. Bills

by: Nick Geddes 7 hours ago NickGeddesNews

The Jacksonville Jaguars received a gift just before halftime of Sunday’s AFC Wild Card Round game against the Buffalo Bills. Down 10-7 with just over a minute remaining in the second quarter, Jacksonville started its drive from its own three-yard line.

Later in the drive, with 15 seconds left, quarterback Trevor Lawrence connected with wide receiver Parker Washington for a 34-yard gain. Suddenly, Jacksonville was down to the Buffalo 41-yard line. The only problem is the Jaguars were without timeouts.

Lawrence and the offense ran down the field, looking to get set in hopes of spiking the ball to allow for Cam Little to attempt a game-tying field goal. The Jaguars snapped the ball and spiked it, though the clock showed zeroes across the board.

After a period of discussion amongst the officiating crew, the lead referee came over the microphone and announced an offsides penalty on Buffalo. It certainly looked as if the Jaguars were late in getting the snap off, but the officiating crew saw it differently. Once that was determined, it was clear to go back and see that multiple Bills defenders were offsides.

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