Referee Land Clark became an all too familiar face to Bills fans in the first half of Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Penalties were called, then called differently after group consultations. Players such as Bills backup QB Mitch Trubisky, who wasn't even dressed for the game, were called for penalties. The Jaguars kicker was called for an illegal shift penalty that actually was on someone else. An unnecessary roughness penalty was called on the Bills' Darryl Williams but should have been on Dion Dawkins. A scrap involving Tre'Davious White and Tavon Austin was called one way and then the other. The Bills were called for penalties on back-to-back missed field goals.
Clark would not be a known entity to Bills fans before Sunday because this is just the second time he has officiated a Bills game in his season-plus as a referee and two seasons as a field judge. He was the referee for the Bills' win against Las Vegas last season.
Clark was hired by the NFL in 2018 and was promoted before the 2020 season to replace the retiring Walt Anderson among the referees. Interestingly, he was promoted to referee despite having not been assigned to a playoff game in his two seasons as a field judge.
Before joining the NFL, Clark worked in the Pac-12 Conference as a referee and he was the referee for the 2018 Sugar Bowl, which was the national semifinal between Alabama and Clemson.
Entering Sunday, Clark's crew was fourth in the NFL, calling 96 penalties in seven games, 13.71 per game, according to nflpenalties.com. (The league average is 12.31.) The 96 were split 47 on the home team and 49 on the visiting team.
Also, an average of 2.72 unnecessary roughness penalties were called per team for the season. The Bills were called for three in the first half. Clark's crew has now called seven unnecessary roughness penalties in eight games and seven taunting penalties, including one against Levi Wallace on Sunday.
Bills coach Sean McDermott said the team was aware that this crew had called taunting often.
The Bills were penalized six times for 70 yards in the first half and the Jaguars were hit with three penalties for 30 yards.
The final tally: 12 penalties on the Bills for 118; eight penalties on the Jaguars for 54 yards.
So this will be the last week for Land Clark and his crew officiating any NFL games, right?
— FearTheSpear🍢🦬 (@bill_mayville) November 7, 2021
Land Clark just called an illegal shift on the kicker. Whoops.
— Ryan Talbot (@RyanTalbotBills) November 7, 2021
Land Clark might be one of the worst officials in the #NFL keep your flag in your pocket. #GoBills
— John Foti (@Jimphones) November 7, 2021
