A season of high-profile officiating miscues reached new heights Monday night at Gillette Stadium, where referee Gene Steratore's crew botched at least one obvious call and left questions about its judgment on multiple other occasions. Let's review each and include official and/or expert reactions where appropriate in the aftermath of the New England Patriots' 20-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

Game situation: First down from the Patriots' 31-yard line, 14:05 remaining in the third quarter.

What happened: Patriots quarterback Tom Brady scrambled toward the right sideline and lofted a pass toward receiver Danny Amendola, who caught it at the Patriots' 45-yard line. Steratore ruled the play dead at that spot because line judge Gary Arthur had inadvertently blown his whistle.

Analysis: NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino was quick to point out that Arthur had "lost track of the football" and made a mistake. "We shouldn't have blown the whistle," Blandino said on the NFL Network.

This happens often enough that the NFL rulebook has a process in place to address it fairly. It calls for the ball to be dead the moment the whistle is blown. Steratore ruled that Arthur blew his whistle when Amendola caught the ball. He also penalized Bills coach Rex Ryan for interfering with Arthur on the sideline.

Replays showed Ryan stepped in front of Arthur, possibly blocking his view of Brady. Placing the ball at the Patriots' 45-yard line, and then adding 15 yards for the penalty, was the correct call based on what Steratore said he judged to have happened. But ...

Game situation: Same play.

What happened: Steratore said to a pool reporter that he "deemed" the ball to be in Amendola's possession when Arthur blew the whistle. On the ESPN broadcast, however, the whistle was clearly audible while the ball was in the air.

Analysis: ESPN Sports Science judged the whistle was blown four-tenths of a second before Amendola caught the ball. If that's the case, Steratore spotted the ball incorrectly. The applicable NFL rule calls for the ball to be placed at the original line of scrimmage -- the Patriots' 31-yard line, in this case -- if the whistle is blown while there is a loose ball as a result of a legal forward pass. While not the crime of the century, the ball probably should have been spotted at the Patriots' 45-yard line after the penalty instead of the Bills' 40-yard line.

Game situation: First down from the Bills' 6-yard line, 6:00 remaining in the third quarter.

What happened: The Patriots hustled to the line of scrimmage and quickly snapped the ball after a 41-yard pass to Amendola, catching the Bills in a personnel transition. Running back James White took the handoff and scored to give the Patriots a 17-10 lead.

Analysis: Many fans wondered whether Steratore's crew should have prevented the snap until the Bills had adequate time to sub out their personnel. NFL Rule 5, Section 3, Article 10 requires the umpire to stand over the ball to give the defense "reasonable" time to match a personnel change or a simulated substitution by the offense.

The Patriots, however, didn't change personnel. ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss wrote that the same 11 players involved in the touchdown were on the field for the previous 41-yard pass to Amendola, and that arrangement is clear based on video reviews of the two snaps.

One angle on the ESPN broadcast revealed that Patriots tight end Scott Chandler started running on the field as a sub, but then returned to the sideline. The rule book defines a substitution as one in which the player crosses the numbers on the field, which Chandler did not do.

Former NFL referee and current CBS broadcaster Mike Carey tweeted that he would have given the Bills a chance to make personnel changes because he considered Chandler's action a simulated substitution. But an NFL spokesman said that because the Patriots were already set, and the snap was imminent, Chandler's excursion onto the field would not be considered a simulated substitution. In other words, the NFL approved of Steratore's handling of the play.

Game situation: Third down from the Bills' 32-yard line, 7 seconds remaining in the game.

What happened: Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw a 16-yard pass to receiver Sammy Watkins, who fell backward and out of bounds with 2 seconds remaining. Head linesman Ed Walker called for the clock to continue moving, however, and time expired. Steratore told the pool reporter that Watkins "gave himself up voluntarily in the field of play," a judgment call, and thus was down inbounds.

Analysis: Former NFL officiating vice president Mike Pereira, now a Fox analyst, tweeted that Steratore's explanation "makes bad even worse." Carey tweeted it was "not a plausible explanation of that play."

NFL rules allow a player to declare himself down in two ways: "By either sliding feet-first" or "falling to the ground, kneeling and clearly making no immediate effort to advance."

If anything, Watkins appeared to be falling as a result of making the catch, not to give himself up. Regardless, he landed out of bounds. NFL rules call for a dead ball to be declared whenever that happens. In this case, Watkins was not touched by a Patriots defender. The play should have been called no differently than when a running back or quarterback runs out of bounds to stop the clock.

Because Steratore ruled that Watkins had given himself up, however, the play was not reviewable.