Referee Jerome Boger defends controversial roughing the passer penalty on Falcons
Oct 29, 2017; Cincinnati, OH, USA; NFL referee Jerome Boger (23) during the game of the Indianapolis Colts against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Referee Jerome Boger did his best to explain after the Falcons-Buccaneers game on Sunday his reasoning for calling a controversial roughing the passer penalty.
The officiating crew called Grady Jarrett for roughing Tom Brady on a huge sack on a 3rd-down play late in the game. The penalty call was made even though Jarrett’s tackle seemed completely fine (video here). The call helped the Bucs maintain possession and eventually run out the clock on a 21-15 win.
“What I had was the defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket, and unncessarily throwing him to the ground. That is what I was making my decision based upon,” Boger told a reporter after the game.
Report from the Bucs pool reporter just landed in my inbox. Here's the full transcript: pic.twitter.com/UjgAVE2sNd
— Tori McElhaney (@tori_mcelhaney) October 9, 2022
Brady likely knows he and his team got away with one on that call. He more or less played dumb when asked about the penalty after the game.
Tom Brady on the roughing the passer penalty after a sack by Grady Jarrett that preserved the win. “I don’t throw flags.”
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) October 9, 2022
Falcons head coach Arthur Smith was furious when the call was made during the game. But after the game, he tried to avoid the subject.
"I didn't talk to (the officials)"
"I'm not going to comment on that."
"I have to figure out what I can do from a coaching standpoint."
"I'm not going to get into that. I haven't seen the film."
Arthur Smith not willing to comment too heavily on the Grady Jarrett RTP call.
— Tori McElhaney (@tori_mcelhaney) October 9, 2022
Boger’s crew also called a controversial roughing the passer penalty in the Bills-Ravens game last week.