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NFL Fans Left Puzzled After Jaguars Appear to Get Extra Play in First Half vs. Bills

Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars offense were sprinting to get off a snap. Did they spike the ball in time?

Tyler Lauletta

The Jaguars hustled to the line to try and spike the ball and set up a field goal. Did they get there in time?
The Jaguars hustled to the line to try and spike the ball and set up a field goal. Did they get there in time? / CBS
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The first half of Sunday’s wild-card game between the Jaguars and Bills was a hard-hitting battle, but its final sequence was notable not for its big hits but rather its puzzling officiating.

The Jaguars were deep in their own territory, but with kicker Cam Little already holding the two longest kicks in NFL history, there was no doubt they’d try to push and get close enough to midfield to at least give him a shot at the uprights.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence took a snap with 15 seconds on the clock and found wide receiver Parker Washington over the middle to get past midfield. Jacksonville was out of timeouts, sending the entire offense sprinting up to attempt to spike the ball, and the Bills defense did their best to hold up Washington and extend the time of the play.

The Jaguars lined up before the Bills were able to get set and snapped the ball, but it appeared that the clock had already hit triple zeroes. But after an extended conversation between the officials, it was determined that Lawrence got the snap off in time, and that the Bills were offsides on the snap, moving Little’s field goal attempt five yards closer.

It’s extremely close, feel free to judge the play for yourself here.

Little, one of the best kickers in football this year, uncharacteristically missed the ensuing attempt, making the officials’ decision to award the final play to the Jags moot. But media and fans alike were still perplexed by the sequence, and the somewhat confusing explanation from the refs after such a long conference.

It’s probably for the best that Little missed the kick, because if it had gone through and later proved to be the difference in the game, there would be plenty of awkward questions for the league in the coming days.

The sequence should still prompt those awkward questions, but ultimately, the call didn’t have an effect on the final outcome, which is a relief.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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