It’s 3rd and 5, the Atlanta Falcons are down 21-15 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady drops back as the Falcons run a stunt that gets Grady Jarrett on the outside shoulder of Bucs left tackle Donavon Smith. Jarrett brings Brady down and the Falcons force the Bucs to punt. That is until referee Jerome Boger practically hands the Bucs the game by calling a ‘roughing the passer’ penalty on Jarrett. I implore you to find a video of this sack and call. The worst part about all this, Boger is a repeat offender of bogus roughing calls. The penalty as a whole has begun to impact the outcomes of games, leaving defenders across the league unsure on how officials would like a player to sack a quarterback
“When tackling a passer who is in a defenseless posture (e.g., during or just after throwing a pass), a defensive player must not unnecessarily or violently throw him down or land on top of him with all or most of the defender’s weight. Instead, the defensive player must strive to wrap up the passer with the defensive player’s arms and not land on the passer with all or most of his body weight.” This is the definition of a ‘roughing the passer’ penalty according to the National Football League (NFL) rulebook. However, with the calls currently being made, it feels as if refs are asking a player to carefully carry the quarterback upstairs, tuck him in, read him a bedtime story, gently kiss them on the forehead, and turn the lights off as you leave their room.
I am all for improving the protocols being put forth to better evaluate the concussion protocol. And I don’t believe a quarterback should get absolutely clocked by a defender. However, with how inconsistent officials have been with this call, defenders seem completely lost and frustrated.
Back to Jerome Boger: when Boger was asked about the call made on Jarett postgame, he said, “What I had was the defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket and unnecessarily throwing him to the ground.” The week prior, Boger made a similar bad call in favor of Josh Allen and the Bills during a crucial drive in a game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Many defenders have been very upset over these calls over the last couple of days. Defensive Player of the Year candidate Micah Parsons, a member of the Dallas Cowboys, was quoted as saying, “How can we play football with this s***. NFL speak up.” Star defensive tackle Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs received a bad roughing call during Monday Night Football against the Las Vegas Raiders on what looked to be a strip sack. Former Bucs and Colts coach Tony Dungy said, “This is not football anymore. I know we have to protect the QB but Chris Jones was recovering a fumble. We have gotten ridiculous with this.” Giants legend Lawrance Taylor tweeted, “C’mon man, you can’t call that, terrible.” Richard Sherman, a former corner for the Seahawks, 49ers, and Bucs tweeted, “Imagine when they decide a playoff game with one of these roughing calls.”
If you sit and watch the trenches during a game, you’ll see star defensive players getting held an absurd amount; however, these players don’t receive the same amount of protection that quarterbacks get. Quarterbacks must be protected, but defensive players should be allowed to play the game too. Every year, it’s becoming even more difficult to play defense in the NFL, and it doesn’t seem like that will change anytime soon.
