Bills Injured Player Faces NFL Punishment for Chiefs Game Actions
The Buffalo Bills scored their most significant victory of the season last Sunday, when they defeated their archrivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, 28-21. Unfortunately for the Bills, the NFL saw fit to throw cold water on Buffalo’s celebratory mood, slapping four separate fines on Bills players for various actions in the game.
Making the NFL’s killjoy response even worse, only one of the four fines resulted from a play that was flagged by officials on the field during the game.
In the case of cornerback Christian Benford, the NFL announcement literally added insult to injury. Benford has been listed as questionable to play in Sunday’s game in Miami against the Dolphins, due to a groin injury that was apparently suffered in practice later in the week.
But on Saturday, the NFL announced a fine of $14,714 against Benford. The discipline resulted from play with 3:40 remaining in the first quarter when Benford was judged to have used his helmet to help him make a tackle.
Helmet Violation Difficult to See
The use of the helmet by Benford is difficult to see in video of the incident, in which several Bills defenders struggle to bring down Kansas City receiver Xavier Worthy, after Worthy caught a lateral from quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the backfield.
Benford has not exactly been a serious discipline problem for the NFL. He had not received a fine from the league office prior to Saturday’s announcement, and has been penalized only twice this year.
The four-year veteran was flagged for illegal contact in the Bills Week 5 loss to the New England Patriots, then again the following week for defensive pass interference in another Bills loss, this one to the Atlanta Falcons.
The helmet violation that drew a fine against the Chiefs was not penalized, keeping Bedford’s record of only drawing penalty flags in Bills’ losses intact.
Most Fines Against Bills in 1 Game
The fine against Benford was one of four leveled against Bills players — easily the most in any game this season, according to ESPN reporter Alaina Getzenberg. The only one that actually came from a play that was penalized on the field was a $10,778 assessment against running back Ty Johnson for grabbing an opponent’s facemask.
Quarterback Josh Allen was also fined for an offense that went unnoticed, or at least unremarked upon by game officials. But the NFL nonetheless hit him with a $14,491 fine because the NFL Operations Office determined that the generally mild-mannered Allen had made a “violent gesture” of some kind during a touchdown celebration.
“After rushing for a one-yard touchdown, Allen handed the ball to offensive lineman Spencer Brown to spike it. Allen then caught the ball after the bounce, spiked it himself, and turned to running back James Cook to make what appeared to be a motion of shooting a gun,” recounted
4th Fine of Allen’s Career
But the NFL did not let the “violent gesture” incident go there. The league also slapped wide receiver Elijah Moore with a $13,888 fine during the same celebration.
The fines were the first of the year for both Allen and Moore.
The quarterback and reigning NFL MVP has been fined three times previously in his career, but not since 2023 when he was hit for $10,927 over a taunting violation. Moore had never received a fine.
Saints Assemble One of NFL’s Deepest WR Rooms Ahead of 2025 Season
The New Orleans Saints invested heavily in the wide receiver position this offseason, building a group with great depth. With a multitude of skill sets, the room is set to be an asset for the team this upcoming season.
2024 was a rough year for Saints wide receivers, featuring multiple impactful injuries. Last year, the team’s leading wideout was Chris Olave with only 400 receiving yards, playing in just eight games. The unit is healthy heading into the new campaign, hoping to turn things around.
Head coach Kellen Moore has dealt with wide receiver groups of all shapes and sizes, but feels confident with what’s brewing in New Orleans. Despite not having any clear-cut superstars in the group, the amount of solid pieces excites the first-year coach.
“I do think the depth is [going to] be really valuable for us as the season goes on,” Moore said. “We’ve got eight guys currently in the receiver room, and all those guys are [going to] be playing on Sundays. We’re [going to] feel great about all eight of them.”
Health Is Wealth
The aforementioned Olave has shown the ability to be a wide receiver one, but missed time last season due to injury. The 25-year-old is set to go for Week 1, bringing a player capable of producing at all levels on the outside.
If Olave can stay on the field, he’s proven he can produce with the best receivers in the league. Through the first two years of his career, the wideout eclipsed 1,000 yards both seasons. He’s one of multiple members of the unit with truly game-breaking speed.
“[The speed] is certainly something we obviously have to lean into,” Moore said. “As we build our plans in the coming weeks, certainly something I think that’s popped up throughout training camp, those guys having the ability to get downfield, and that’s something we’ll have to utilize.”
Rashid Shaheed also missed the majority of the 2024 season, but returns healthy this year, looking to bounce back. The 26-year-old has great skills as a deep threat, keeping opposing defenses honest. In 2023, Shaheed appeared in 15 games, tallying 719 receiving yards.
New Exciting Additions
Veteran Brandin Cooks makes his return to the Saints’ wide receiver room for the first time since 2016. The 31-year-old has played for four other teams in between both stints in New Orleans, with some juice still left in the tank. With six seasons over 1,000 yards, Cooks could be a huge help in an otherwise young group of pass-catchers.
Late in the offseason, the Saints decided to make two more additions at wide receiver. The first was Devaughn Vele, being traded over from the Denver Broncos. The 27-year-old was a seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft, and tallied 475 yards during his rookie year.
Trey Palmer was the team’s most recent addition, coming over from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers through waivers. The 2023 sixth-round pick is entering his third season at 24 years old, and has blazing speed. He has a total of 557 yards and four touchdowns across two years.
“Everybody’s fast, it’s [going to] be hard to cover all of us at the same time,” Palmer said. “Somebody’s [going to] be open.”
