The Patriots are no stranger to questionable calls against them or in their favor, some of which are still talked about several years later. It's a natural part of football, fortunately and otherrwise, which continues to be a story in the first week of the 2025 NFL season.
Early in their first matchup with the Raiders, the Patriots benefitted from what some are calling a questionable pass interference call that allowed them to continue an otherwise dead drive. That immediately garnered a lot of attention, as the Patriots have gained a reputation for "getting all of the flags" in games.
While debating the legitimacy of a penalty is fair, and sometimes a team does benefit from a flag that might not have needed to be called, this isn't something exclusive to the Patriots, but make up calls for questioned penalties does appear to be normal for the NFL officials.
Referees appear to give the Raiders a make-up call for an early questionable penalty in favor of the Patriots
In the second half of Sunday's game, Raiders wide receiver and former Patriot Jakobi Meyers began to hit his stride and make defenders pay on nearly every play.
In the midst of that, he was awarded and unnecessary roughness call on Jaylinn Hawkins, awarding the Raiders 15 yards which eventually led to a touchdown, despite Meyers being the one to lower his head on the play first.
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) September 7, 2025
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Safety of the players should be treated with the utmost importance by the NFL, even if it they consistently make fans question if they really are doing that, so penalizing a team for leading with their head or any sort of helmet to helmet hit should be mandatory.
However, this isn't a case of that and should have been reviewed, as Meyers initiated lowering the helmet and not Hawkins.
It felt like a make-up call for the one from earlier in that game that drew an outcry from Raiders fans online. It unfortunately allowed them to score another touchdown, to put them ahead of the Patriots 17-13 early in the third quarter, and making their job much more difficult for the rest of the day.