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Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen started his playoff run with an impressive performance against the Denver Broncos. Allen completed 20-of-26 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns with a further 46 yards rushing in a 31-7 blowout victory. But it was an bizarre sideline interaction with referee Bill Vinovich that stole that the headlines.
Vinovich appeared to miss a defensive holding call against the Broncos early in the third quarter. The call would’ve given Buffalo a first down, but the play resulted in a sack instead and the Bills ended up kicking a field goal on the possession. When CBS returned from commercial, it showed Vinovich on the sidelines talking with Allen and seemingly apologizing for the missed call.
Allen talked about discussion after the game, but didn’t really get into entirely what was said.
Josh Allen: “I wasn’t happy with what was going on and I was yelling a little bit and [the ref] just said, ‘Don’t be yelling.’ My bad.”
Reporter: “Did he apologize?”
Allen: “I won’t say anything about that.”
(via @BuffaloBills)pic.twitter.com/pL7cHY5XU9 https://t.co/cIXXYbNPgY
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 13, 2025
Bill Vinovich Told Josh Allen That He Needs To Stop Yelling At The Referees
What he did reveal, however, was that Vinovich told him in no uncertain terms that he shouldn’t be yelling at referees.
“I wasn’t happy with what was going on,” Allen said. “I was yelling a little bit. He just said, ‘don’t be yelling.’ So, my bad. Sorry to Bill.”
Now, players yelling at referees after missed calls is nothing new. Especially quarterbacks and team captains, who seem to be given a bit more leeway than everybody else. But it’s important that Allen gave some clarification of what was said. And it’s important that Vinovich made a point to put his foot down.
Fan speculation is oftentimes far worse than reality in these sorts of situations. So Allen stating that Vinovich was telling him not to yell at refs does a good bit uphold the integrity of both the game and the league.