Tag: roughing the passer

An atrocious Bills-Jets roughing the passer call on Aaron Rodgers left NFL fans disgusted

Okay, this was horrible.

Roughing the passer continues to be the most controversial call in the NFL, and it reared its ugly head during the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets game on Monday Night Football.

Right after Bills defensive end AJ Epenesa cleanly sacked Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the referees still threw a roughing the passer call because of an “unnecessary second act.”

Epenesa’s body landed on Rodgers during the takedown, which triggered the flag and caused NFL fans across the globe to wince at what an absolutely terrible call it was.

There is not much a defensive lineman like Epenesa can do to avoid contact like that when they’re charging in for a sack, if only because gravity is going to do its thing no matter what.

The league rules protect the quarterback in this situation if the full body of the defender lands on him, which leaves us with lots of head-scratching and frustration. It really feels like the Bills got jobbed here, even if the call is defensible by the NFL’s overwrought rules.

Of course, the reactions to this maddening flag were not pretty.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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Referees call simultaneous horrible roughing the passer calls on Vikings, Panthers

The Vikings and Panthers were victimized by simultaneous horrible roughing the passer calls in two different games. Bravo, refs!

There’s no question that the putrid state of officiating is one of the top stories of the 2023 NFL season, and here we go again. On Sunday, virtually at the same time, the Minnesota Vikings and the Carolina Panthers were waylaid by roughing the passer calls that did not stand up to close inspection.

The penalty against the Vikings came with 9:17 left in the first half. Defensive lineman Patrick Jones II barely touched Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, but Land Clark objected nonetheless. That turned second-and-26 into first-and-10, and game the Lions 15 extra yards.

The penalty against the Panthers happened with 8:44 left in the first half, when edge-rusher Yetur Gross-Matos was apparently a bit too rough with Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love. Again, you’d love to see any evidence of actual roughing the passer here. That turned third-and-1 into first-and-10, and gave the Packers 15 bonus yards. Bravo, referee Alex Kemp.

You can see both “penalties” right here.

Sean Payton shrugs off roughing the passer penalty on Baron Browning

Sean Payton when asked about Baron Browning’s penalty: “Those guys worked hard, the officiating crew. They’re tasked with a difficult job.”

Late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos outside linebacker Baron Browning hit quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson just as the ball was released on an incomplete pass that would have resulted in 4th-and-12 if not for a late flag.

Officials deemed the hit roughing the passer and penalized Browning, resulting in a first down for the Browns. It was a brutal hit that knocked DTR out of the game with a head injury, but many fans viewed it as a legal play.

After the game, Broncos coach Sean Payton downplayed the controversial call by sidestepping a question about it.

“Those guys worked hard — the officiating crew,” Payton said after an eventual 29-12 win. “They’re tasked with a difficult job. Some of those calls are difficult to make. They have a challenge — they happen so quickly. They had good dialogue.

“[I’ve] worked with a bunch of those guys over the years. I felt like it was good communication. That’s kind of where it was at. It kind of goes back and forth — you get some, sometimes you don’t. They did a good job of communicating everything.”

Payton’s diplomatic answer might not have been so diplomatic if the Browns came back to win. Browning didn’t have much to say about the penalty after the game.

“I didn’t think it was a dirty hit, but they called it,” Browning said. “So what can I do about it?”

Fortunately, Denver’s defense recovered a fumble two plays after the penalty.

“I think it just shows our demeanor and attitude,” Browning said. “We can’t control everything, but what we can control is our response. We responded and got a turnover.”

Twitter/X had mixed reactions to the penalty on Sunday.

Jeffery Simmons’ shocked face after lousy TNF roughing the passer call summed it up perfectly

We’re with you, Jeffery Simmons. We’re with you.

Nobody knows what actually constitutes as roughing the passer in the NFL anymore, and you can count Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons among those who are so perplexed.

During a very routine, unavoidable quarterback hit on Pittsburgh Steelers’ Kenny Pickett on Thursday Night Football, Simmons got inexplicably flagged for roughing the passer.

The Titans defensive tackle gave a genuinely shocked face, which is very understandable. He seemed to make as responsible a hit on a quarterback as you could make, with his tackle form exactly what you want to help limit any possible injuries during hits like this.

Coupled with a bizarre roughing call on Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt that his brother J.J. Watt openly questioned on social media, we’re not really sure why these flags have been thrown for very normal defensive plays.

Simmons has every right to be frustrated about that call, as it just didn’t at all look like anything but a normal attempt to sack the quarterback.

You always want to make sure roughing the passer is called when a defensive player makes an improper hit, but this from Simmons was textbook. We didn’t agree with this call at all, and neither did Simmons.

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Los Angeles Rams propose to have roughing the passer penalties reviewed

The Los Angeles Rams have proposed to have all roughing the passer calls reviewed but does it have any support?

The NFL is a quarterback-friendly league and has been known to go to extreme lengths to protect players at this position. With quarterbacks being the most valuable and often highest-paid players on their teams, the league has added several rules to prevent them from being hit too hard or too low by defensive players.

Regardless of how you feel about these rules, they are designed to help reduce the risk of injury to quarterbacks and keep them on the field.

One of the most heavily scrutinized rules that protect the quarterbacks is the “roughing the passer” penalty, which by official league standards is:

“Any physical acts against a player who is in a passing posture (i.e. before, during, or after a pass) which, in the Referee’s judgment, are unwarranted by the circumstances of the play will be called as fouls.”

This rule has left many players and fans scratching their heads, but according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the rule may be subject to review.

According to Judy Battista, the Los Angeles Rams were the team who proposed making all roughing-the-passer calls reviewable.

It’s too early to know if the NFL Owners would approve this new proposal, but it according to Maske it appears as if the competition committee doesn’t appear to be in favor of the change.

We’ve often seen teams obtain a second chance on a crucial drive or even a game-winning drive because of these penalties. Teams may now have the opportunity to review and have them overturned.

One thing to note about this rule and the potential proposal is that in the NFL’s Rule Summary, it’s truly subjective and up to the referee’s judgment.

“When in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic against the quarterback, the Referee should always call roughing the passer”

One thing that could put pressure on the NFL to make a change is the XFL allowing anything to be reviewed once per game. They also give access to the replay booth with the head of officiating Dean Blandino.

While the goal of the replay system is to make accurate calls and ensure fairness on the field, it has been plagued by controversies. Time will tell if this proposal gets approved, but if it does, it will probably just add more frustration to an already broken system, which is the NFL Replay system

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Dak Prescott got a free play vs. the 49ers because roughing the passer rules are dumb

Why did Arik Armstead refuse to tackle Dak Prescott for a safety? Ask the NFL about their ridiculous roughing the passer rules.

With 45 seconds left in the San Francisco 49ers’ divisional round win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, Dak Prescott rolled to his right from his own six-yard line, and tried to throw the ball to tight end Dalton Schultz near the sideline. Prescott was flummoxed in his efforts by San Francisco defensive lineman Arik Armstead, who worked out of his left defensive tackle spot to roll with Prescott.

For the briefest of moments, it looked as if Armstead had Prescott in the grasp in the end zone. Tackling Dallas’ quarterback there would have ended the game, as the 49ers already had a 19-12 lead. But Armstead failed to tackle Prescott.

You can see from the end zone angle that Armstead laid off Prescott after an initial push.

One might imagine that Armstead was reacting proactively to the idea of drawing a roughing the passer penalty in that moment.

At the end of his Monday press conference, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked if he understood that this was the reason for Armstead’s hesitation, and if he aligned with Armstead’s thought process.

“Yeah, I did,” Shanahan said. “It’s an unfortunate, tougher position than it looks to get caught in. I think he thought Dak was going to throw it, so I think he was going in there with the mindset to get his hands up to try to tip it. Then Dak didn’t and it caught him off guard and then he was afraid the position he was in, he was about to hit him high and get a penalty.

“When you’re approaching a quarterback, it’s so hard for these guys to hit in that target area and not get a penalty that you really have to approach it the right way. And I believe without talking to him, just watching on film, he was approaching him to get his hands up to tip it — and then all of a sudden when he saw he wasn’t in that situation, he didn’t want to get that 15-yard penalty. Once I watched the tape, I can totally see why it happened, and that’s just kind of the challenges these guys have.” 

Where would Armstead get that idea? Perhaps from a league that doesn’t legislate roughing the passer in any reasonable or sensible way. There is this specific proviso in the current NFL Rule Book:

When in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic against the passer, the Referee should always call roughing the passer.

Whether Prescott was a runner or a passer at the point where Armstead got to him? Didn’t matter. If the officiating crew, led by Bill Vinovich, deemed that Armstead had committed roughing the passer by dint of their Magic 8-Ball, that was going to be that.

So, don’t always blame a defender for failing to make a big play. There are times when defenders are inhibited from doing so by a rule book that doesn’t always make a lot of sense.

The NFL’s roughing the passer rules aren’t just flawed — they’re flawed by design

Deion Sanders used his Bucs-Cowboys ManningCast appearance to rip a roughing the passer call to shreds

Deion Sanders couldn’t believe Dak Prescott got this call.

Deion Sanders joined the loud chorus of people who continue to be in disbelief over what constitutes as roughing the passer in the NFL.

The NFL Hall of Famer and freshly minted Colorado football coach joined Peyton Manning and Eli Manning on the season’s final ManningCast just in time for a wonky roughing the passer call on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The refs flagged a hit on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott from Bucs defensive end Akiem Hicks, and Sanders just was not there for the penalty being called.

He became lively when questioning just exactly what about Hicks’ hit was a penalty, though Eli Manning thought the hit might’ve qualified for a flag.

Sanders joking with the Mannings about why they might be tempted to return to the field because of how little constitutes as roughing the passer these days is exactly why the ManningCast continues to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Dallas scored a touchdown on that drive, so without question, the call impacted the game. Hicks’ hit might make a bit more sense for the call than some other recent examples, but Sanders wasn’t having it.

After all, in a game where the Tom Brady is playing, NFL fans can always expect some weird roughing the passer calls.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

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Roughing the passer penalties reverse interceptions for Mac Jones, Justin Fields

Mac Jones and Justin Fields had interceptions wiped out by roughing the passer penalties, which is the way the NFL wants it.

We already know that the NFL will call roughing the passer whether it is or is not, actually, roughing the passer. NFL EVP of Football Operations Troy Vincent recently said as much after controversial roughing calls against Chris Jones of the Chiefs and Grady Jarrett of the Faocons.

“We support those calls,” Vincent said during an October 16 appearance on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown. “Why? Because in Article 11 [of the rulebook], this is the one rule – and we have a ton of rules – where the judgment you give the referee, that white hat, is the latitude to call that play in real time. If that’s what both Carl and Jerome in those two particular games, if that’s what they saw, the rule allows us to say yes to support it.”

Vincent also said that quarterbacks drive ratings, and that’s why the NFL is going to protect the quarterback. With that, the NFL finally said the quiet part out loud.

There is also a codicil in the NFL Rule Book which states that “When in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic against the passer, the Referee should always call roughing the passer.”

On Sunday, two beleaguered quarterbacks were bailed out of horrible interceptions by specious roughing the passer calls.

First, there was Mac Jones of the Patriots, who saw this pick-six by Jets cornerback Michael Carter called back after a highly suspicious roughing call on defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers.

And then, soon after, Bears quarterback Justin Fields was saved on this Trevon Diggs interception after defensive end Chauncey Golston.

Whether these actions actually constitute roughing the passer is irrelevant. The NFL has said outright that it will use this infraction to edge things in the quarterback’s direction at all times, so these outcomes are ideal for the league. It’s also why there’s no point in making roughing the passer a reviewable call, because the league is going to tell the officials that any roughing the passer call is the right call.

Jaguars DC Mike Caldwell isn’t worried about roughing the passer rules

The Jaguars’ Week 6 game against the Colts will be officiated by Jerome Boger, a ref who has a reputation for bad roughing calls.

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Travon Walker made a massive mistake in Week 5 when he slung Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills down on a dead play after jumping offsides. Just like that, a third-and-20 situation turned into a first down that gave the Texans offense life.

It was an easy call for officials to make and it set up Houston for its only touchdown of the game. Against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6, the Jaguars might have to worry about the not-so-easy calls.

Assigned to referee the AFC South matchup is Jerome Boger, the official responsible for the worst roughing the passer call so far this season.

Making matters worse for the Jaguars is the fact that home teams typically fare well when Boger is the referee.

That could be a bad combo for a Jaguars team that didn’t have much difficulty getting to Matt Ryan, the NFL’s most sacked quarterback this season, back in Week 2. Defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell isn’t too worried about it, though.

“You can’t pull them down, horsecollar him in the pocket, but there are certain ways you have to land on a quarterback or try not to land on a quarterback,” Caldwell said Thursday. “We’ve gone over that and they understand it. It’s tough for a defensive player, but that’s what we’ve got to do—abide by the rules.

“If it’s your quarterback, you want him to have as much protection as possible. If you’re going after the quarterback, you want to go get him. It’s interpretation by the referees, and it’s a tough job that they have to do. We have to understand what we can do, how we can help our team. Just teach them the rules, let them understand what they can and can’t do and go from there.”

The Jaguars haven’t been called for roughing the passer (Walker’s penalty was unnecessary roughness) since Dawuane Smoot hit Carson Wentz late in a Week 1 loss to the Washington Commanders.

Raheem Morris sounds off on recent roughing the passer controversies

Morris knows how roughing the passer penalties are supposed to work and hopes that the NFL will correct its murky enforcement of the rule.

Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season was defined by the league’s murky definition of what they consider to constitute a roughing the passer penalty, and though the Los Angeles Rams weren’t victims of a bad call, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris was asked about the recent controversies in his Thursday press conference.

With an All-Pro pass rusher like Aaron Donald on his roster, it seems like it is only a matter of time before the Rams fall victim to a bad call in this area. Morris told reporters that he has a thorough understanding of the league’s stance on the matter, but made it clear that since the safety of players is a top priority in the NFL’s concussion era, effective enforcement comes down to referees’ ability to call the penalties in a way that doesn’t affect the outcome of a given matchup.

“So the first view for it, is I understand it’s for player safety, which is first and foremost in what we do,” Morris explained. “The next thing is you have to coach it. We have been over the last couple of years. We talk about hitting in the strike zone, which is below the neck area and above the waist area because you can’t go too low, you can’t go too high. Some of those things are penalties. They did, however, take out some of the penalties when you graze their head with your hand, which I thought was excellent this year, and now it was talking about the landing on them and how you want to land on them. And so you have to try to roll.

“Some penalties are going to get called that you think are wrong, that’ll always happen. That’ll always be part of our game, that’ll always be what it is. Do we have to try to protect that from those penalties that are so critical? No doubt, no question. I’m sure the league will clean that up. I’m sure they’ll get together and we’ll get rid of some of those controversial calls that we have from the last week. Nobody wants to see that, fans, players, coaches, media members, nobody. So, we’ll clean those things up, but we all just got to know what’s in the benefit of player safety and we got to keep that first and foremost on our minds.”

The implications of last week’s questionable calls will loom large over the league’s schedule in the coming weeks as fans clamor for them to change their rules or make key plays reviewable to make sure that regulations are enforced correctly. Nobody wants to see quarterbacks get injured, but the correct application of the rules will be necessary to ensure that the integrity and core physicality of the game never comes into question.