The Patriots fell victim to the NFL’s ‘roughing the passer’ problem on Sunday
Let’s get this out of the way, first and foremost: the following commentary has absolutely nothing to do with the result of the Patriots’ loss to the Cardinals, the Patriots’ miserable 2024 season, or the way they’ve played and coached on the field. This is an independent analysis, devoid of any excuse-making for the way the Pats have played or coached on the field. This is bigger than the Patriots, an NFL problem that happened to come up in the course of action on Sunday.
Now that I’ll know who actually read the article … the Patriots got called for an absurd “roughing the passer” penalty on Sunday. Linebacker Anfernee Jennings, appearing to even try to peel off at the last second after Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray released the ball, happened to make incidental helmet-to-helmet contact as he tumbled to the turf. The official on the field deemed this “roughing the passer.”
Yeah, Jennings really ROUGHED HIM UP here:
“I really thought it shouldn’t have been a penalty,” Jennings told MassLive’s Chris Mason. “But that’s the rule and they flagged me for it.”
It’s always a good sign when poor Mike Reiss has to go talk to the referee for a pool report. Even better when Ron Torbert has to field FOUR questions about the same play.
Here’s the full exchange between Reiss and Torbert, via Reiss’ Twitter account…
Question: What did you see on the field that led to the flag for roughing the passer (third quarter, 3rd-and-6, Arizona 8 [yard line])?
Torbert: “The flag came from the umpire’s position. The umpire saw a hit to the quarterback’s helmet just after he had thrown the ball.”
Question: How does the quarterback scrambling as a runner as he approaches the line of scrimmage before throwing the ball affect the protection provided to the quarterback under the roughing the passer rule?
Torbert: “This does not impact the protection that he gets from forcible hits to the helmet. Although he is scrambling and working the pocket, he still gets the same protection from forcible hits to the helmet that he would if he were standing in the pocket.”
Question: If in a situation like that, a quarterback maybe lowers his head after throwing the ball before contact was made by the defense, how would that affect the protection to quarterbacks under the roughing the passer rule?
Torbert: “By rule, that action does not impact the protection that he gets from forcible hits to the helmet. We would have to see that action if it happens. That in itself does not change the protection that he gets from forcible hits to the helmet.”
Question: For a defensive player who would ask what he would have to do to not be penalized in that situation, is the answer as simple as there cannot be forcible contact to the helmet?
Torbert: “In that particular situation, given that’s what we called, that would be the answer. That is the reason that the flag was thrown, because of the forcible contact to the quarterback’s head and neck area.”
The most incredible detail in here is that Murray could have actually lowered his head before taking the hit, and it still would’ve been roughing the passer. But the most infuriating part of this whole conversation is the repeated use of the word “forcible.” That absolutely, positively, was not forcible contact by Jennings. The helmet contact was not done by force. It was incidental. And that should’ve been discernible even in real time by the umpire.
This is why the roughing the passer rules need to change. Not because quarterbacks don’t need to be protected. Not because they need to allow helmet contact. But because it’s unconscionable that officials have no choice but to deem a play like that “roughing” and “forcible contact.”
So, I’ve got a proposal for the competition committee. Someone text this to Rich McKay. Treat the quarterbacks more like kickers. Institute a “running into the quarterback” penalty. Five yards, replay the down. Fans could certainly live with it more if the Jennings penalty was just a quick five-yarder due to incidental/avoidable helmet contact, that wasn’t necessarily forcible. That play showed that there is a clear difference between roughing a guy and running into him.
If the league and the officials can’t keep the flags in their pockets when it comes to helmet contact with the quarterback, then the penalties themselves could use a little update. That should result in less of these aggravating discussions about ticky-tack roughing calls.
Once again, this has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the game, or that the Patriots got their asses kicked (again) coming out of their bye week. Notice that up until the rest of this sentence, there was no mention of the fact that the penalty wiped out a horrendous Murray interception. Because this goes beyond one game by a shit team. It’s a league-wide issue. The Commanders had a bad one called against them on Sunday, too.
Regardless of how the Patriots’ season has gone, this singular problem is one that still needs to be addressed. There has to be a way to reach a compromise. There has to be a way to make the stupidity stop.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
