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Mike Vrabel called out refs after Patriots’ loss

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Dec 15, 2025 4:30 PM ET

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had some complaints about the officiating during his team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Vrabel felt that inconsistent officiating was an issue in the Patriots’ 35-31 loss to Buffalo at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. In his weekly appearance on WEEI, the Patriots coach came armed with stats that he argued meant the Bills got a favorable whistle during the game.

“I’ll say this: the Bills lead the NFL in offensive holds, and I’ll leave it at that. That would be hard for me to understand, how a team that is coming into the game leading, and that’s how they play, didn’t have one yesterday. So that’s hard for me to understand,” Vrabel said.

#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel on officiating in the game vs. the Bills, via @TheGregHillShow:

“They do have a difficult job. The consistency — sometimes I struggle with it. I’ll say this: the Bills lead the NFL in offensive holds, and I’ll leave it at that. That would be hard for me… pic.twitter.com/7IMSIDTJyu
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 15, 2025

Thad Brown of WROC, who also co-hosts the team’s pregame show, pointed out that Vrabel’s stat is not nearly as bad as it sounds. The Bills as a team actually average less than one offensive holding call per game.

There’s a lot wrong with what Vrabel says here. But I’ll just offer this.

He says #Bills lead NFL in O-Holding. Sounds like a huge thing.
They have 28 holds. Thats only 2/game.
Only 11 are on OL. Less than 1/game.
Torrence got a hold.

Sounds like refs pretty much did their job https://t.co/KR24B6A1br
— Thad Brown (@thadbrown7) December 15, 2025

Vrabel obviously wants to make sure his team gets calls in the future, so there is a bit of gamesmanship involved here. Still, this risks coming off like sour grapes, especially since his team blew a 21-point lead twice.

The Patriots remain in excellent position and are only one game behind the Denver Broncos for the top seed in the AFC. On the other hand, they will now have to hold off the Bills for the AFC East crown, which got more difficult after Sunday’s defeat.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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