The NFL has had a bit of a problem on its hands with the amount of roughing the passer calls that have been made early in the season, and the league attempted to clarify the new rules on Thursday.
In a video that was released by the NFL Football Operations Department, senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron explained the difference between a legal and an illegal hit on the quarterback with regard to the defender using his body weight. The idea is that the league doesn’t want defenders intentionally landing on quarterbacks with most or all of their body weight. The first example that was used was from last season, when Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr broke Aaron Rodgers’ collarbone.
To ensure consistency in officiating the roughing the passer rule, the @NFL Competition Committee clarified techniques that constitute a foul. Examples of permissible and impermissible contact on the quarterback: pic.twitter.com/ODU6FMGeIW
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) September 27, 2018
The main takeaway? Officials can use their discretion. This isn’t a situation like with the helmet-to-helmet rule where you can clearly tell the difference between a foul and a clean play. If an official feels a defender made an effort to avoid landing on the QB with most or all of his body weight, a flag doesn’t need to be thrown.
According to a report from earlier in the week, some NFL rule-makers have been uncomfortable with the way the new roughing the passer guidelines have been applied this season. It’s interesting that Thursday’s video did not cite any of Clay Matthews’ three personal fouls, which drew the strongest reactions from NFL fans.
Based on the way Riveron explained the rule, our sense is that the right call was made on Matthews last week when he sacked Washington Redskins quarterback Alex Smith. Look at the way Matthews landed on Smith with all of his body weight:
#Packers Clay Matthews now has 3 weeks in a row with roughing the passer called against him.pic.twitter.com/LSfPmHKMW3
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 23, 2018
You may disagree with the rule, but it seems like it was applied properly in that case. On the contrary, Matthews may not have deserved the flag he drew the week before when he sacked Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. On that play, it looked like Matthews tackled Cousins mostly with his arm and shoulder and then braced himself as he hit the ground, which stopped him from landing with all of his weight on Cousins.
Here's the play from the #Vikings game.
Clay Matthews for roughing the passer again to give the opponent new life on a game ending play.pic.twitter.com/GIaTrkC65O
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 16, 2018
The flag thrown on Matthews in Week 2 gave the Vikings a crucial first down that helped them tie the game and may have cost Green Bay a win.
Given some of the reactions we have seen (including one from Matthews that might be particularly disturbing to NFL officials), it would not be a surprise if we see less roughing the passer calls going forward. While the clarification doesn’t necessarily change any rules, it does reiterate that game officials can, and should, use discretion.
