NFL posts barrage of messages about roughing the passer
It came without warning, or specific purpose. And it will do little to achieve its intended goal of making people feel better about the slipshod, inconsistent manner in which NFL officials call roughing the passer fouls.
A storm of posts on the platform previously known as Twitter from NFL Football Operations aims ostensibly to explain the roughing the passer rule. Under a video narrated by Rich Eisen (because, frankly, the NFL has not employed an authoritative voice on officiating matters since Dean Blandino left for Fox), multiple lengthy messages appear. It's too much. It's too technical. It blurs together. It causes eyes to gloss over and brains to check out.
Then again, maybe that's the true goal. Overwhelm the audience with information so that we'll all be more inclined to accept the slipshod, inconsistent manner in which officials call roughing the passer fouls.
Buried at the bottom of what would be called a tweetstorm if they were still called tweets is the one sentence that could help everyone better understand when and why yellow flags fly after a quarterback is hit: "When in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic against the quarterback, the Referee should always call roughing the passer." (Emphasis added.)
When in doubt . . . always call roughing the passer.
It's the only rule that requires doubt to be resolved in favor of throwing the flag. And it's the mirror image of the standard for putting someone in jail. If there's reasonable doubt (i.e., the glove doesn't fit), the defendant walks. In this setting, if there's reasonable doubt, the referee is required to throw the flag.
That never gets explained during games. We've mentioned on numerous occasions this should be the first thing the rules analysts employed by the various networks mention when asked to comment on a roughing foul. The question isn't whether Blandino or Gene Steratore (CBS) or Terry McAulay (NBC, Amazon) or John Parry (ESPN) believe roughing occurred. It's whether the referee, while officiating the game in real time and at full speed, had ANY DOUBT that roughing occurred.
The league wants it this way because it needs quarterbacks to stay healthy. From having a hair trigger on roughing the passer to grossly expanding the area in which passes can land to avoid intentional grounding fouls to not calling offensive holding that blatantly occurs to looking the other way when tackles start into the pass-block set a split second before the snap, the NFL is officiating games in a way that is intended to help keep quarterbacks healthy.
The problem is that, even with such measures, it's not working. Many quarterbacks have been injured this year, either missing practice time or game time or playing through one or more injuries. Here's a rough list of quarterbacks who have been banged up (or sidelined) at some point this year: Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watson, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Ryan Tannehill, Anthony Richardson, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Jimmy Garoppolo, Daniel Jones, Tyrod Taylor, Jalen Hurts, Kirk Cousins, Justin Fields, Desmond Ridder, Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, Bryce Young, Brock Purdy, Matthew Stafford, Geno Smith.
That's why the league uses a "when in doubt" standard for roughing calls. That's why there's a sense of inconsistency, because sometimes there's doubt — and sometimes there isn't — when officials attempt to discern tactics happening at full speed in real time.
Frankly, the only way to instill true consistency would be to change the roughing rules for quarterbacks in the pocket to match the same protections that apply to punters and kickers, and to make roughing reviewable. Yes, that would dramatically alter the game. It also would make it easier to officiate roughing the passer consistently. It would help keep quarterbacks healthy.
Many of you won't like the mere suggestion of such a strict standard for roughing. That's fine. That's your prerogative.
Meanwhile, enjoy watching Tommy DeVito face the Cowboys on Sunday in what Fox will call (with a straight face and zero sense of irony) America's Game of the Week.
