Helping hand move backfires
Von Miller pulled the old too- slow trick on his buddy Tyrod Taylor, yanking back j ust as the Buffalo Bills’ prone quarterback was reaching up to grab the star linebacker’s helping hand.
The two, who are friends, laughed off the whimsical middle school move.
The joke was on Miller, though, when referee Carl Cheffers either didn’t notice Miller and Taylor yukking it up as they had all afternoon or he didn’t see the humour in it. So, out came the flag. “I was halfway off the field,” Aqib Talib said. “Next thing I know, I heard the crowd start cheering.”
The Denver Broncos’ star l i nebacker had j ust buried his face into Taylor’s chest with a textbook tackle midway through the fourth quarter to force a third- down incompletion. The Bills capitalized on the unsportsmanlike conduct call, chewing up more clock before kicking the sealing field goal in their 26-16 win Sunday.
“I’ ve got to be smarter than that,” Miller said. “I killed the game today with that penalty.”
Br o ncos head coach Vance Joseph lauded Miller for owning the mistake, but wondered why it was called at all.
“I’m a firm believer in the rules and I read the rules this morning and I didn’t see offering the guy a hand and taking it away as a penalty,” Joseph said.
Notes: The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off a successful fake punt while leading Baltimore 37- 0. Sure enough, a sideline scuffle ensued, as did the broadcast debate about sportsmanship.
“It was an opportunity that came about. It’s something that the players practice and if you get what you want, if you get the look, then we’re going to make the call,” Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said.
The Ravens didn’t complain.
“It’s not my job to care a bout what t hey r un,” cornerback Jimmy Smith said. “We’re supposed to stop it.”