The roughing the passer call has been at the limelight when two NFL players were controversially charged with that penalty in Week 5.
Atlanta Falcons defensive end Grady Jarrett committed the call against Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, even though he had an argument that he did not inflict unnecessary contact.
Meanwhile, Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones was furious after being penalized for that infraction against Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
Those instances should prompt a discussion about the call among players, coaches, and game officials alike.
However, as NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero shared, it seems that the league is moving on.
There's nothing on the fall meeting agenda about roughing the passer. Rules talks are in March. And roughing calls are way down in 2022.
Could roughing the passer eventually be reviewable? Said one influential team exec: "I sure as hell hope not. We know what that looks like."
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 18, 2022
Pelissero tweeted, “There’s nothing on the fall meeting agenda about roughing the passer. Rules talks are in March. And roughing calls are way down in 2022. Could roughing the passer eventually be reviewable? Said one influential team exec: ‘I sure as hell hope not. We know what that looks like.'”
Jones made a plea to make the call reviewable.
However, his case might fall on deaf ears for now because talks about adjusting the game’s rules are often done in March.
Likewise, roughing the passer will ultimately be upon the referee’s discretion, and there’s a fine line between a clean hit and not.
Unfortunately for Jones and Jarrett, their situation will be largely forgotten as the season progresses, especially when fewer roughing the passer infractions are being called.
It was a hot topic for a while, and game officials will learn from it.
While Jarrett and Jones have a case for not committing the penalty, overturning them will not change the game’s result.
But if the Falcons miss the playoffs by one game, they will look back to that call because they could have gotten the ball back.
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