The San Francisco 49ers took on the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football, and a controversial roughing-the-passer call in the game has certainly caught the attention of many around the NFL world.
It occurred in the third quarter with the Seahawks facing a 21-3 deficit. San Francisco 49ers star pass rusher Nick Bosa got past Seahawks left tackle Charles Cross and put a hit on Geno Smith that caused an errant pass.
The pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by 49ers cornerback Deommondore Lenoir, but Bosa was flagged for roughing the passer and the touchdown was waved off.
The overwhelming majority of fans on social media certainly believe that this was a blown call by the officials.
“Roughing the Passer,” tweeted Tom Loy of 247 Sports.
“This is not roughing the passer,” tweeted former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III.
“I’d like to be employed by the NFL as THE replay official for all roughing the passer penalties. Put me in NY. I wouldn’t get a call wrong,” tweeted former NFL linebacker Clay Matthews III.
This is the latest of what has been a growing problem in the NFL, which is that there’s a clear issue with distinguishing how pass rushers are landing when they hit the quarterback.
A similar play happened earlier this month in a game between the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Chargers, where Dolphins defensive end Jaelan Phillips landed with his body weight on quarterback Justin Herbert.
This call was even more questionable, and it certainly seems like we have a clear issue on how roughing-the-passer is being called by NFL officials.
[The Comeback on Twitter; Photo Credit: Amazon Prime]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.