Roquan Smith Fined $35,822 for Two Unflagged Hits on Bills

The NFL fined Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith $35,822 for two plays against the Buffalo Bills that drew no flag on the field, Sports Illustrated reports. He was fined $17,911 for grabbing Josh Allen’s facemask and twisting his head during Allen’s first-quarter touchdown run, and another $17,911 for hitting DJ Moore as a defenseless player. The facemask fine is higher because it is Smith’s second offence of the season, after a $11,941 fine in Week 2 for the same infraction.

What did Smith do to Josh Allen?

On Buffalo’s opening drive, the Ravens stopped Allen on third down at the goal line. He went back for a quarterback sneak on fourth down and pushed across for the touchdown, Heavy reports, and as he did, Smith grabbed his facemask and twisted his head with a lot of force. The touchdown stood, the Bills took a 7-0 lead, and Allen stayed in the game, finishing with two touchdown passes and a rushing score, Heavy reports.

What made the play hard to miss on video was how open it was. Allen was already going to the turf as he crossed the line, and Smith’s hand was on the facemask as his head turned. The officials missed it entirely, Sports Illustrated reports, and no flag was thrown. Allen popped up and shoved Ravens cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, Heavy reports, but he did not appear to be hurt.

What was the second fine for?

A separate hit in the same quarter, on a different Bills player, that was also missed. Smith hit wide receiver DJ Moore across the middle in the first quarter, Sports Illustrated reports, and Moore was deemed a defenseless player with the ball thrown elsewhere. There was no flag on that play either, and the league fined Smith the same $17,911.

Two fines from one game, both for plays the officials did not call, is the part that has drawn the most attention. The league’s weekly disciplinary process exists to catch exactly this, and on Saturday it caught both. The question now is what it does the next time, because Smith’s history with the league office is not short.

Why is the fine $17,911?

Because Smith has done this before, this season. In Week 2, New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough scored the game-winning touchdown on a fourth-down sneak in a 24-17 win in Baltimore, Heavy reports, and officials missed a facemask by Smith on that play too. The NFL later fined him $11,941 for it.

The second offence costs more. The league’s fine schedule charges $17,911 for a repeat facemask, Heavy reports, which is how the Allen fine landed at that number. Smith’s earlier fines run further back: a horse-collar tackle against Kansas City in 2024 cost $16,883, a facemask against the Los Angeles Rams in 2023 cost $10,927, and roughing the passer against Detroit in 2023 cost $16,391, Heavy reports.

Why wasn’t Smith suspended?

The league chose fines, and it did not announce a suspension, Sports Illustrated reports. That is the part Bills fans have struggled with. After the video circulated, some called for the league to suspend him, Heavy reports, and one Bills podcast host put it bluntly: “There’s dirty players, then there is Roquan Smith. Dude should be suspended for trying to pull Josh Allen’s head off.”

Sports Illustrated asks the same question in plainer terms: what does Smith need to do to earn a suspension, and how do the officials keep missing such obvious penalties. The league has not answered either question. The contrast with the week’s other discipline cases is sharp: Dre Greenlaw was suspended for one game for headbutting a helmetless opponent, while Smith was fined twice for two unflagged hits and will play on.

What did the Bills say about the play?

Head coach Joe Brady said he did not know about the play until after the game, Heavy reports. Once he saw it, he said whether intentional or not, it is not something you want to see in football, and he was surprised there was no penalty, while adding that is obviously not his place. Ravens Wire reports Brady acknowledged he had not initially seen the contact but expressed concern about the nature of the tackle.

The Ravens have not commented on the fines. Smith’s tackling technique is now the story inside the story: Ravens Wire reports the repeated violations put more focus on it as the Ravens try to correct their defensive problems, and the team is already dealing with a third straight loss to Buffalo and injuries at quarterback. The NFL rescinded a fine this season too, when it wiped Kyle Juszczyk’s juice-box celebration penalty, which shows the league’s weekly review cuts both ways. For Smith, it cut one way only.

What happens next for Smith?

He plays on, with the fines as the only consequence. The league has not said whether a further offence would bring a suspension, and Smith has not commented publicly on either fine. The next test of the officials comes in Baltimore’s next game, where every Smith tackle will be watched more closely than usual. The league’s officials have been under scrutiny all season, from the suspensions of two referees for player incidents to the flag-happy crews coaches have complained about, and Todd Bowles called out the league’s most flag-happy crew after the Buccaneers survived 14 penalties in Dallas, and this weekend’s fines are the latest entry in that running argument.