PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – You can imagine the frustration defensive players must feel, especially pass rushers when you do what you are paid to do, yet it’s ruled illegal. Several examples so far this year of the fine line of protecting the quarterback, yet playing football.
This week the Steelers face Tom Brady, for years it’s been regarded, fair or not, that the league watches out for Brady. That if you hit him too hard, too low or perceived to be too late, immediate flag where others may not get the same courtesy.
In preparing to face Brady and the Bucs, a Steelers defense is talking about a ‘hot pass rush’ and being aggressive. It also needs to make sure if they get to him, they somehow bring him down softly.
Last week Atlanta’s Grady Jarrett received such a penalty for ‘sling-shotting’ Brady down. It was a pivotal play that likely changed the outcome of the game. Fans, media, Pro Football Hall of Famers condemning the call, many feeling it’s more than just protecting Brady, but an overreaction to the hit on Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa that happened in a similar fashion. Tua has been out a couple of weeks due to a concussion.
While all of that could be true, Steelers Defensive Captain Cam Heyward pointed out another factor that likely played into that call.
“If you watch that game versus Atlanta,” Heyward said. “Everyone likes to pay attention to that one play, but before that play, there was a call where they could have called roughing the passer where he went at (Brady’s) legs. I felt like the ref was trying to make up a call.”
“That happens.”
There is another example other than just Tom Brady, Kansas City’s Chris Jones called for roughing the passer on Monday. As he stripped the ball from the Las Vegas quarterback, he fell on him while grabbing the ball. Jones flagged for putting his full body weight on him.
“The Chris Jones one, I was more disgusted with because we are being taught we need to make a play on the ball,” Heyward said. “Chris Jones makes a play on the ball and has the ball in his hand and falls on top of Derek Carr. I don’t know what else you can ask him to do.”
“That’s teach tape right there. For any defensive lineman, you should be doing that. I understand we want to protect quarterbacks, but who is protecting us.”
Heyward wonders why in 2019 the NFL tested for a season where you could challenge pass interference calls, why not roughing the passer penalties?
“It’s like the Wizard of Oz, you have somebody keeping eyes on everything and controlling everything,” Heyward said. “I go out there and play. You can’t worry about mistakes and penalties. It’s about overcoming that and not letting it be a factor.”
“We just got to keep rushing,” said Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith. “We know the rules have changed and we got to be a little smarter around him, but that can’t stop our intensity and how we get after him.”
“We just try to follow the rules as they’ve been presented to us,” said Steelers Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin. “We are just going to follow the rules. If the calls are not what we want, if we are following the rules we can’t coach our guys differently. We coach our guys what the rules are and then we go from there.”
It’s quite a balancing act for defenders and for the league. How to protect the most important players in the sport while still protecting the integrity of the game.
They haven’t figured that out yet.