A surprising look at the work done by Lank Clark and company in Week 11
More than most fans, I tend to side with the refs, but regular readers know that there’s one head official that even I dread seeing. So much so in fact, that ‘round these parts he’s got a new middle name. That’s right, I’m talking about Land. ****ing. Clark.
The NFL decided to toss me a curveball and send Clark and crew to Orchard Park, NY as the Buffalo Bills hosted the Kansas City Chiefs for one of the most important AFC regular-season matchups of the year.
Now to be clear, I’ve never accused Clark of being biased, unfair, or even incompetent. But some way, somehow, there’s always something ludicrous that happens. There’s the normal NFL rule book, and then there’s the Land. ****ing. Clark edition. The latter of which is like the Darkhold being cross-referenced with the Necronomicon and translated into an audiobook by Bobcat Goldthwait. Weird, right?
Somehow we seemed to have avoided that, so maybe for this week it’s more like “Land. Redemption. (Cl)Ark.”
Standard and Advanced Metrics
Penalty Counts
The only oddity here is that the Bills continue hovering below league average on a routine basis. Kansas City has had a good season avoiding flags, so this is also pretty normal. You may think that there’s another oddity, notably that KC should have a higher count with an uncalled facemask flag not on the books. Chiefs fans have been chirping about an OPI they think was missed too. That said, it’s pretty normal for there to be a missed call or two, so Land. Redemption. (Cl)Ark continues unabated.
Penalty Yards
Buffalo’s low yardage is to be expected with their low counts. Kansas City is a little elevated, but nothing crazy. There’s a suggestion that they may have skewed toward a couple severe flags but, again, nothing wild.
Penalty Harm
Kansas City
Kansas City totaled 14.0 Harm during the game, which is above the bad-day threshold. Looking at some of these bars, it seems pretty clear that a couple plays in particular are the main culprit. Incidentally, this looks like I made a graph detailing the amount of condiments around a restaurant. Good news for tables three and seven, who have plenty of ketchup remaining. This is good information to have if you’re quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Anyway, the delay of game was intentional in an attempt to draw Buffalo offside. It didn’t work and the five yards is no big deal for the punter. Offensive guard Trey Smith’s unnecessary roughness was offset by one by defensive end A.J. Epenesa. Cornerback Joshua Williams running out of bounds on a kick was five yards only.
Offensive tackle Wanya Morris was called for offensive holding. It negated a three-yard scramble by Mahomes that wouldn’t have gained a first down, so the Harm is the sum of the assessed yards (10) and negated yards (3) and multiplied by 0.1 for 1.3 Harm.
The defensive holding call on defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah is a bit more complex with the formula. Buffalo was faced with 3rd & 9. Quarterback Josh Allen connected with wide receiver Khalil Shakir for eight. Buffalo accepted the flag to get the free first down. For the formula that means it’s 5 yards assessed, -8 yards impacted (yes that’s a negative), and 2 downs given up. Or 0.5 – 0.8 + 2.0 = 1.7 Harm.
Safety Chamarri Conner was called for defensive pass interference on a missed pass to wide receiver Curtis Samuel on third down. The flag was assessed at 22 yards and two free downs.
The worst flag of the day for multiple reasons was the offensive holding on right tackle Jawaan Taylor. Down by nine with under two minutes to play, KC needed a miracle. On 4th & 3, Mahomes ran the ball for 18 yards to seemingly get the first. Instead, the entire 18 yards came back as well as the three downs Mahomes’ legs had gained. That’s 10 assessed + 18 negated + 3 downs negated.
Speaking of Mahomes scrambles, by my count that’s two rushes for 21 yards negated. If you check the stat sheet, Mahomes was 0 and 0. In other words, Mahomes’ legs were limited by the Bills’ defense and then entirely negated by flags.
Buffalo Bills
This should be quick. As noted, one of A.J. Epenesa’s roughness calls was offset. His other one was yardage only. The defensive pass interference on cornerback Christian Benford came in the end zone while Kansas City was on first down at the five. The delay of game may have inspired KCs same flag as the Bills were the first to attempt to draw the opponent offside rather than punt. Since we’re here, let’s look at a few GIFs starting with Benford’s DPI.
This isn’t terrible by Benford, but I can see the flag. I know some of you are thinking that contact is allowed within five yards and sure, but only as long as the receiver is in front of the defensive back. Once they’re parallel, anything that restricts the receiver is a flag and Benford is still holding wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins back a little. Next up is Epenesa’s first roughness call.
This seems to be clear cut. I’m not saying Epenesa should like what he sees. I’m not even saying he shouldn’t show how much he dislikes this. What he should not do is a headbutt. This is an easy call for 15, and honestly this could have been disqualification worthy.
Kind of a trend with Epenesa at this point. At least he didn’t use his helmet this time. I can see why this one was offset too with offensive guard Trey Smith not exactly playing well with others. If you’re wondering, Epenesa had another roughness call against the New York Jets earlier this year. Outside of this year, there’s no significant trend for him though.
Land. Redemption. (Cl)Ark. Completed!