The NFL doesn't seem to have any issue with one of the more controversial calls of the season.
The NFL, its referees in particular, has come under fire by fans amid an uptick in controversial roughing the passer calls. The call Sunday on Grady Jarrett for his hit on Tom Brady was bad enough, but the called-back Chris Jones strip-sack Monday for the same infraction really ratcheted up the discourse.
In the fallout of that, the league apparently is doubling down. According to The Athletic’s Kalyn Kahler, the league sent a video to all 32 teams clarifying the rule – and defending its use in the Chiefs game.
“The Kansas City defender executes his rush plan in his effort to sack the quarterback,” NFL senior vice president of officiating administration Perry Fewell said in the video, according to The Athletic, which acquired the footage. “He lands with his full body weight on the drive to the ground. A quarterback in the pocket, in a passing posture, gets full protection until he can defend himself. This was a properly called foul for roughing the passer.”
In the video, the league reportedly showed examples of eight clean quarterback hits, as well as two infractions. Jones’ hit was one of the examples of a time the penalty should be called, but the other wasn’t the Jarrett incident, rather a Taven Bryan hit on Baker Mayfield.
Presumably, the Jarrett play was omitted because the referees said the reason for that flag was Brady getting thrown to the ground, whereas the Jones incident was more about putting full body weight on the quarterback. If nothing else, it would have been an opportunity for the league to address another controversial call directly with teams.
More often than not, it’s anyone’s guess in a given moment if a hit on the quarterback will get whistled as roughing the passer. But there are some guidelines in terms of what they’re supposed to be looking for.
“This video that outlined roughing the passer calls for the 32 NFL teams,” Kahler wrote, “reinforced that officials will be calling it a penalty if a defender takes a quarterback to the ground but does not roll to the side on the way down, or brace himself with both hands or his knees so as not to land on the quarterback.”
So, there you have it.
Until the next debatable call, of course.
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