It's not often that an NFL coach receives an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the sidelines, but New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel defied the odds on Sunday while his team was facing the Buffalo Bills. During a drive by the Bills in the second quarter, the officials flagged Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones for defensive holding on Buffalo's DJ Moore. Vrabel did not agree with this call, he made that much clear.
The cameras caught him saying "That's a [expletive] terrible [expletive] call." Yikes. The officials then announced the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Vrabel, prompting him to respond "Who, me?" He asked for an explanation from the crew as he was confused why he was dealt the penalty. Sure, he definitely said what they heard, but he didn't yell the sentence in anyone's face, nor was he near any of the officials when he said it.
The call became controversial since it's unclear why Vrabel was dealt the penalty in this scenario. Regardless, the Bills were given five yards and an automatic first down. A few plays later, Josh Allen ran in the ball to score the Bills' second touchdown of the game to tie it up 14-all.
Vrabel's penalty obviously helped the Bills somewhat get to that result. Hopefully the penalty is a wake-up call for Vrabel to watch what he says on the sidelines — he could easily get caught from the officials and negatively impact his team's play on the field. That's not what you want a coach to ever do on the sideline.
It didn't matter in the end, though, as the Patriots got a huge win over the Bills, 29–26. This victory might shush some of the haters for next week as the Patriots are now 2–2 on the season.
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