Bills defense called for horrendous unnecessary roughness penalty vs. Cardinals

The 2024 NFL season began on Thursday night, and there was already controverislal penalties. There were the countless illegal formation calls on the Baltimore Ravens offensive line in their 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Certainly, that would be the only bad penalty of Week 1, right?

Wrong, and the Buffalo Bills were victims of a controversial call.

Early in the first quarter against the Arizona Cardinals, the Bills defense was trying to put a stop to the offense, led by quarterback Kyler Murray. The 2019 first overall pick scrambled upfield for a six-yard gain on third-and-13, and slid to bring an end to the play. The thing is, the referees awarded the Cardinals 10 yards and the first down due to unnecessary roughness on cornerback Ja'Marcus Ingram.

Take a look for yourselves to determine if this was unnecessary roughness.

Bills called for controversial unnecessary roughness penalty in Week 1

Ingram was going for the hit, but he let up to avoid making contact with Murray. Despite doing this, the referees determined that Ingram deserved a penalty.

Unfortunately for Buffalo, this penalty extended the drive for Arizona, and resulted on points being put on the board. Set up in the red zone, Murray eventually connected with Michael Wilson on a five-yard touchdown pass to give the Cardinals an early 7-0 lead.

Buffalo has had a rough start in Week 1, at one point trailing Arizona 17-3 late in the second quarter. Even though the Bills had considerable turnover across the roster this offseason, they were considered favorites to beat the Cardinals.

But on the opening drive of the 2024 season, the Bills allowed a touchdown, with an assist from a controversial call from the on-field officials.