NFL referees calling a very soft roughing the passer penalty on Grady Jarrett for sacking Tom Brady was bad but sadly expected given Brady has gotten those calls his entire career. Now, it’s happened again on a play that’s arguably worse than the Brady sack and for a quarterback who doesn’t typically get those calls.
Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones stripped Derek Carr of the ball and recovered the fumble as he was tackling him. But even though Jones had the ball and was using his arm to brace his fall and not put his entire weight into Carr, he still got penalized for roughing the passer, which negated the fumble and resulted in a Raiders field goal.
The vast majority of those who watch football felt it was a bad call and that includes those who currently play in the NFL. Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons showed he’s got no filter and called out the NFL for being “terrible.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if Parsons gets fined for those tweets but he’s not wrong. In fact, I can make an argument that if the NFL is going to throw the flag for any contact on the quarterback, then defenders will stop trying to avoid hurting the quarterback and just drill them. If it’s a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down no matter what, why bother trying to keep the QB safe at the expense of your own play and safety?
About Phillip Bupp
Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.
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