With just under a minute left in the fourth quarter Sunday, the Buffalo Bills faced a third-and-14 situation deep in their own territory. A failure to convert would mean the Miami Dolphins would get the ball with a chance to get their first win at Highmark Stadium in eight years.
But a Chop Robinson neutral zone infraction cut five yards off that third down, and the Bills were able to convert when Jordan Poyer was flagged for unnecessary roughness on a hit that jarred the ball loose from Buffalo’s Keon Coleman.
jordan poyer is still helping the bills win games❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/04sA0OOAmU
— ً (@cashout4kt) November 3, 2024
“I thought it was a clean play,” Poyer said. “I felt like I put my helmet right in his chest. Just playing football. … I felt like I hit him right where I was supposed to hit him. Apparently, the ref didn’t think so, so he called it. It is what it is.”
While Mike McDaniel said he never saw the play, he wasn’t so sure it was as clean as Poyer described.
“It takes it out of everyone’s hands when you go helmet to helmet,” McDaniel said. “I didn’t see it live, but if there’s helmet-to-helmet contact, it is what it is. You have to go strike zone, which is below the neck. They’ll call that every time if that’s the case. We’ll see it on film.”
After the penalty, the Bills were held to just 11 more yards and forced to try the game-winning field goal attempt from 61 yards. That was close enough for Tyler Bass, who drilled the game-winner to drop the Dolphins to 2-6 on the year.
