New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye exited Sunday’s Week 10 game against the Detroit Lions at the Allianz Arena in Munich with a right ankle injury. Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson sacked him from behind on New England’s opening third-and-goal play, and referee Clay Martin’s crew threw no penalty flag, sparking immediate backlash from fans online.

After a 26-yard flea-flicker pass to Mack Hollins, penalties pushed New England back before Hutchinson came in from behind on third-and-goal and brought Maye down, landing across the back of his legs. Maye twisted his right ankle on the play and limped off the field, and the Patriots later ruled him out for the rest of the game.

Fans online were furious that no flag came out, convinced the officials had missed an obvious foul. Their anger found some support from Front Office Sports reporter Mark Maske, who noted on X that the sack drew hip-drop suggestions and that “there did seem to be some of those elements.”

“There are some suggestions that Aidan Hutchinson’s sack of Drake Maye was an illegal hip drop tackle,” he noted on X. “Remember that all elements of a hip-drop tackle (grab, swivel, unweight, fall on leg or legs) must be there for it to be illegal, under NFL rules.”

The FOX broadcast also saw analyst Greg Olsen calling it a hip-drop tackle that slipped past the officials and might still be fined. NFL Rules expert Mike Pereira disagreed, thinking the play was a “horse-collar type.”

“Three things have to happen. You have to unweight yourself, swivel all around the back, and land on the back of his legs below the knee,” he argued. “This was more of a horse collar type, pulled down from behind. But not a horse collar.”

Even so, he acknowledged the tackle was an awkward one, likening it to a horse-collar tackle, another technique banned for being dangerous.

MLFootball shared replay footage of the play on X, calling it a textbook hip-drop tackle and pointing out that no flag was thrown. Fans soon flooded the comments with backlash.

One saddened fan posted, “Nobody protects Drake Maye smh, most hated QB in the league.” Another posed a question to the league, “@NFL @NFLonFOX @MikePereira please define a hip drop tackle. Then please tell us how tf it’s a rule if this is not gonna be called.”

A third fan addressed Pereira’s broadcast comments, expressing his discontent with the decision: “Bullshit, if Mike can’t see that’s a hip drop tackle he needs to hang it up. Watch the video – Hutchinson jumps, takes his weight and swings his legs into the back of Drake’s Mayes legs. Literally what the rule is designed to prevent. Refs protecting refs.”

The NFL banned the hip-drop tackle in March 2024 because of how often it injures players. The league said the technique, in which a defender wraps up a ball carrier, swivels his hips, unweights himself, and drops onto the runner’s legs, causes lower-body injuries at a rate 20 times higher than other tackles.

The consequences have been severe: Ravens tight end Mark Andrews suffered a fractured left fibula and ligament damage in his ankle in 2023 after Logan Wilson rolled up his leg on the play, and Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin’s 2024 season ended with a dislocated ankle that required surgery.

When the hip-drop is flagged in real time, it costs the defense 15 yards and gives the offense an automatic first down, though players can also be fined after the fact if officials miss it, as Roquan Smith was with $16,833 for the hit on Godwin.

A fourth fan commented on the obvious lack of hip-drop calls: “been saying it for weeks them implementing the ‘flag’ for hip drops was a gimmick”

Under Rule 12, Section 2, Article 18 of the NFL Rulebook, a defender commits a foul if he takes a runner down by grabbing him with one or both hands or wrapping him in both arms, then unweighting himself, swiveling and dropping his hips or lower body so that he lands on or traps the runner’s leg or legs at or below the knee.

In the replay being spread on X, one can see Hutchinson use a technique similar to the forbidden one to bring down Maye.

As other fans pointed out on social media, however, Hutchinson got his own punishment soon after.

After sacking Maye, Hutchinson celebrated and ended up hurting his right knee. Hutchinson landed awkwardly on his celebratory jump, entered the blue medical tent, and limped to Detroit’s locker room before being ruled out with a knee injury. The Lions are yet to confirm the gravity of his injury.

A fifth fan commented on the incident, “You can see drake’s ankle get twisted, crazy work just jumping on his back and dragging him wherever. He got instant karma tho so chew on that.”

Another fan added, “And then Hutch immediately injured himself celebrating, in a karmic ‘Ball don’t lie’ kind of way.”

Before exiting, Maye completed 3 of 4 passes for 48 yards with an 11-yard rush, helping Andres Borregales kick a 33-yard field goal. Backup QB Tommy DeVito replaced him, and New England punted on its next four possessions before CB Roger McCreary intercepted DeVito.

Despite losing Hutchinson on the opening drive, Detroit built a 35-10 fourth-quarter lead behind 467 total yards and finished the game by increasing it to 494.

But the biggest moment from Munich was undoubtedly Maye getting sacked by Hutchinson and the drama that ensued, both on and off the field.