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NFL Admits Sammy Watkins Went Out Of Bounds At End Of Patriots - Bills, Gives Bills Fans Moral Victory

By Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff)

BOSTON (CBS) -- It's unreal how "NFL Admits (Insert League Official Here) Messed Up In (Insert Primetime Game Here)" is becoming a weekly headline, but it is. After yet another debacle on Monday Night Football with NFL fans watching across the country, the referees turned in perhaps their worst performance of the season - and it came from Gene Steratore's crew, which might technically be the best crew in the league.

At the end of Patriots - Bills, following a madcap series of laughable officiating blunders summed up by a now-infamous inadvertent whistle, Sammy Watkins attempted to get out of bounds to stop the clock with just a few seconds remaining. It looked as if Watkins barely got out, but the officials ruled he was downed while still in bounds and let the clock run out to end the game.

NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino said Tuesday night that the official believed Watkins was "giving himself up", essentially meaning he thought Watkins was being a total moron. Blandino acknowledged that the referee misjudged the play and should have stopped the clock (h/t Pro Football Talk). The referee in question was literally right there too, which only makes the mistake look worse.

Had the Bills gotten those final two seconds, Tyrod Taylor would have had one play to chuck a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. But that's it. So it's obviously highly unlikely that the decision affected the outcome of the game anyway.

But if I may insert a hypothetical into this...What if that happened in the red zone with the Bills down 3 points or less? Controversy! The referees can't make these kind of errors in any situation, because you never know when it's going to happen at a much more crucial time.

Nonetheless, Bills fans can point to the error and hand their team the moral victory. They can feel robbed. It's a normal reaction for teams that lose to the Patriots, so this should be no different. But the anger here should be with the officials.

The only thing becoming more predictable on Monday Night Football than Jon Gruden coming up with lame nicknames is the obligatory officiating blunder. This particular game was 60 minutes of suckitude with one standout moment, but you can always depend on the zebras for at least one colossal gaffe. Hey guys, yeah you in the striped shirts...Could you, like, not mess up this badly on a weekly basis?

It's just disturbing to know this is happening every week, because the ineptitude - and angry tweets and columns - could very well spill into January and February. Get your keyboards ready.

Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.

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