The NFL — often to a fault — goes out of its way to protect quarterbacks.

Did officials fail Josh Allen on Sunday? The Buffalo Bills quarterback was on the receiving end of an apparent horse-collar tackle by Philadelphia Eagles pass rusher Haason Reddick. But officials didn't call it, and a likely Bills scoring drive came up empty.

The play took place at the end of the second quarter with Buffalo deep in Philadelphia territory. With the Bills leading, 10-7, Buffalo faced second-and-goal from the Philadelphia 3-yard line. Allen dropped back to pass and faced immediate pressure from Reddick.

Reddick grabbed the front of his jersey at the collar with his left hand. He then grabbed the back of Allen's jersey at the collar with his right hand and slung the Bills quarterback to the turf. Allen got rid of the ball in a desperate attempt to avoid a sack just before hitting the ground.

He came up with the front of his jersey ripped and pleading with officials for a penalty.

Allen wanted a flag on Reddick for a horse-collar tackle. Instead, he got one on himself for intentional grounding. A horse-collar penalty would have set the Bills up with first down inside the Eagles' 2-yard line. The intentional grounding call instead put the Bills at third-and-goal at the Philadelphia 16.

The drive ended with a Tyler Bass field-goal attempt that Jalen Carter blocked.

The Bills were heated. But should they have been?

Per the NFL, a horse-collar penalty requires a tackler to “grab the inside collar of the back or the side of the shoulder pads or jersey or grab the jersey at the name plate or above and pull the runner toward the ground.” Had Reddick grabbed the front of Allen's jersey like he did the back, a penalty would be indisputable. But an argument can be made that Reddick pulled Allen down by the front of his jersey while simply having another hand on the back of Allen's jersey at the collar. Did officials determine that he didn't actually pull Allen down by the back of his jersey? Or did they make a bad call?

Either way, the Bills ended up just fine in the sequence. They forced a Jalen Hurts fumble on the ensuing Eagles possession and converted the turnover into a touchdown.

The score gave the Bills a 17-7 lead at halftime of a game critical for their postseason hopes.