Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Another NFL playoff game, another opportunity for football fans to become completely befuddled by what exactly constitutes as roughing the passer.
During Saturday’s AFC divisional round matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Kansas City Chiefs, a handful of calls/no calls on roughing the passer confounded and frustrated those who just want some gosh darn consistency on one of the game’s most costly penalties.
Whether you’re a Jags or Chiefs fan, or just a regular spectator, you were likely to throw your hands up in exacerbation.
On one play, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence took a big hit from Chiefs defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, welcoming questions as to where the flags were.
Trevor Lawrence gets launched, but no roughing the passer on this play 🤔pic.twitter.com/xRaUGVlwE4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 21, 2023
On another play, people wondered if Jags pass rusher Arden Key’s hit on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes that temporarily sent the latter out of the game constituted for a penalty.
THE IMMEDIATE DROP DOWN TO THE LEG
not even trying to wrap & tackle pic.twitter.com/rmT3NmZEev
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 21, 2023
Two of Key’s hits on on Mahomes also got people talking as to whether or not they deserved the dreaded penalty.
Arden Key’s first roughing the passer was a lot worse than his second. But the officials got one of the two. Key is on a mission. pic.twitter.com/7ZchCAdrfs
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) January 21, 2023
So, again, roughing the passer or not? You decide. Some people feel the league is going easier on Mahomes than Lawrence, others are just perplexed as to what the penalty even means anymore.