Contempt against NFL officiating seems to be growing by the week this NFL season. With the league’s recent crackdown on taunting, along with other some other questionable rule enforcement, fans have expressed their belief that referees have had too much of an impact on the outcome of games.
A roughing the passer call in Sunday’s game between the Tennessee Titans and the New Orleans Saints only added to the mounting frustration.
A stunning penalty was given to Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss for a hit that he put on Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The flag negated a New Orleans interception and allowed Tennessee to hold onto football and score a touchdown later in the drive.
Elliss was penalized for making contact with Tannehill’s helmet, but upon a closer review, that contact wasn’t really there. After coming around the edge and getting around the block, it looks like the linebacker’s arms only touched the quarterback’s back, not his head.
However, the referees at the game clearly didn’t see things the same way. Elliss was flagged for roughing the passer and the Titans punched in a score soon after.
Needless to say, Saints fans and numerous media personalities were outraged at the penalty in Sunday’s game. Twitter was abuzz with complaints about the league’s handling of the roughing the passer rule after the latest incident.
This is embarrasing. A roughing the passer call on Tannehill that takes away an interception. What horseshit pic.twitter.com/hGp6A0bVOY
— Ollie Connolly (@OllieConnolly) November 14, 2021
Absolutely brutal “roughing the passer” call against New Orleans. Roughing the passer is the new pass interference in terms of how differently it’s called game to game.
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) November 14, 2021
Week after week with this shit!! what are we doing here NFL!!!!! https://t.co/DxEg6rNW0f
— matt newton (@mattnewts) November 14, 2021
And we already have one that trumps the awful roughing the passer from TNF.
The Saints just had an end zone interception wiped away because… a pass rusher bumped into Tannehill’s back as he was throwing. Just a horrific, game changing call.
Every. Damn. Week. https://t.co/2KqNchISsJ
— nick wright (@getnickwright) November 14, 2021
#Saints just had a huge redzone INT… but it was called back because this was called roughing the passer.
What are we doing? pic.twitter.com/Qg9iUg5jDY
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 14, 2021
Every week NFL officiating becomes more a PR firm than referee crew. Their top priority appears to be proving the NFL is emphasising care or strictness on a topical issue, rather than just calling the game properly. https://t.co/bDc7OylkYV
— Laurie Horesh (@LaurieHoresh) November 14, 2021
This stinks –
As a sidenote, I like when broadcasters carry water for refs w comments like, “[LEAD REF] & crew have made some questionable calls today but they’ve had a good quarter…” as though officiating is a sport with wins & losses, successes & failures & that’s just that. https://t.co/LVWtjFdVIU— Dave Dameshek (@Dameshek) November 14, 2021
Horse crap roughing the passer call on the Saints that took an interception off the board. The NFL has an officiating crisis.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 14, 2021
These roughing the passer penalties bother me far more than taunting penalties.
— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) November 14, 2021
Fans have a right to be frustrated with the penalty in Sunday’s Saints-Titans game. Although it might not have a direct impact on the outcome of the game, it swung the momentum and gave Tennessee an easy score.
This afternoon’s instance of roughing the passer isn’t the first time that the enforcement of the rule has led to widespread frustration from football fans this season. There seems to be very little consistency on roughing the passer calls and Sunday’s penalty was a clear indication of that.
No matter what the outcome of the Saints-Titans game is, the flag on Elliss will surely be a postgame talking point.
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