There are plenty of bad officiating calls each week in the NFL, but Sunday’s roughing the passer call in the Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings game has a pretty good argument to truly be “the worst.”
At fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins dropped back for a pass when Lions cornerback Tracy Walker wrapped him up for a sack and turnover on downs.
At least that is what it should have been.
Instead, the flag was thrown and roughing the passer was called, giving the Vikings a new set of downs to punch it in from the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Cousins ran up the middle for a touchdown and gave the Vikings a 37-29 lead.
The reasoning for the call is likely to be justified as part of the “body weight” rule, which is designed to prevent pass rushers from landing on quarterbacks with their full body weight. A similar call was made on Drew Brees earlier this year, eliciting some angry response.
While there was not a whole lot at stake in this Week 17 matchup, the call angered not just Lions fans, but football fans and pundits of all corners as they criticized the officiating on Twitter.
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