Bills vs. Seahawks Officiating Crew Reportedly Unlikely to Face Discipline

The officiating crew for the Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks, led by referee Walt Anderson, is reportedly expected to avoid direct discipline for a series of botched calls at the end of the first half. 

Adam Caplan of ESPN reported a source stated the crew won't receive punishment for the mistakes but will be graded on those calls, as is standard practice. The officials with lower grades don't qualify to work during the NFL postseason.

ESPN's Ed Werder confirmed Caplan's report, and noted the team was penalized for the calls. 

Anderson and Co. made a mess of the situation surrounding Buffalo's attempt to kick a field goal before halftime. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman jumped the initial snap and ran into the legs of Bills kicker Dan Carpenter, who initially remained down, and the medical staff came onto the field.

The officials called Sherman for offside, but they opted against an unnecessary roughness call that would have made for a much shorter field-goal attempt.

The crew also determined Carpenter would have to leave the field after the penalty because of the medical stoppage. So head coach Rex Ryan called for a spike to burn a down.

It was determined there were multiple officiating mistakes during the sequence. NFL senior vice president of officiating Dean Blandino commented on the lack of unnecessary roughness:

Meanwhile, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported spiking the ball is only allowed in order to stop the clock, which was already stopped at the time of the chaos. A source told him it was allowed due to the "extenuating circumstances" of the situation.

After Carpenter returned to the field, the Bills were called for delay of game even through replays showed an official standing over the ball until only a few seconds were left on the play clock. Anderson admitted he made a mistake in that instance, per Matthew Fairburn of NYup.com.

Carpenter ended up missing a 54-yard field goal after the mess was sorted out. The Bills went on to lose the game by six. They drove inside the Seattle 10-yard line during the game's final minute before the drive stalled out with two sacks and a fourth-down incompletion.

Afterward, Ryan stated, per Tim Booth of the Associated Press: "From an officiating standpoint, I think you can do a little bit better than that."

The ESPN report noted Anderson's crew is on a bye for Week 10.