Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Another NFL playoff game, another opportunity for football fans to become completely befuddled by what exactly constitutes as roughing the passer.
During Saturday’s AFC divisional round matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Kansas City Chiefs, a handful of calls/no calls on roughing the passer confounded and frustrated those who just want some gosh darn consistency on one of the game’s most costly penalties.
Whether you’re a Jags or Chiefs fan, or just a regular spectator, you were likely to throw your hands up in exacerbation.
On one play, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence took a big hit from Chiefs defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, welcoming questions as to where the flags were.
Trevor Lawrence gets launched, but no roughing the passer on this play 🤔pic.twitter.com/xRaUGVlwE4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 21, 2023
On another play, people wondered if Jags pass rusher Arden Key’s hit on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes that temporarily sent the latter out of the game constituted for a penalty.
THE IMMEDIATE DROP DOWN TO THE LEG
not even trying to wrap & tackle pic.twitter.com/rmT3NmZEev
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 21, 2023
Two of Key’s hits on on Mahomes also got people talking as to whether or not they deserved the dreaded penalty.
Arden Key’s first roughing the passer was a lot worse than his second. But the officials got one of the two. Key is on a mission. pic.twitter.com/7ZchCAdrfs
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) January 21, 2023
So, again, roughing the passer or not? You decide. Some people feel the league is going easier on Mahomes than Lawrence, others are just perplexed as to what the penalty even means anymore.
Nobody likes being confused by roughing the passer.
How is this not roughing the passer??? Literally the exact same hit was called for one on Henne.
pic.twitter.com/Q9cXxe80BQ— Lost Tribe Sports (@LostTribeSports) January 21, 2023
Lawrence gets blasted in his face mask for a roughing the passer…@NFLOfficiating: pic.twitter.com/M8VJIJxwuo
— Greg Vorse TV (@GregVorse) January 21, 2023
if you tackle the quarterback it has to end with you booking him a 7pm reservation at a nice restaurant lest you be called for roughing the passer
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) January 16, 2023
How was the other one roughing the passer but that one wasn’t?
— Blake Jewell (@BlakeJewellNFL) January 21, 2023
What a blatant missed roughing the passer…
This is getting silly.
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) January 21, 2023
This roughing the passer thing is getting out of hand
— Miles (@5280Miles) January 21, 2023
the very obvious biases in who gets roughing the passer calls might actually be the worst aspect of the penalty
— victoria (@dirtbagqueer) January 21, 2023
One of these was called roughing the passer and one wasn’t. Guess which is which. @NFL @NFLOfficiating pic.twitter.com/FGKC4pjf0m
— Stephen Glansberg (@RenobHawk) January 21, 2023
If you’re going to call roughing the passer on the Chad Henne play for helmet to helmet (which it was), you have to call it on that Trevor Lawrence play
Ridiculously inconsistent. Literally the same exact play called 2 different ways
— JaguarGator9 (@JaguarGator9NFL) January 21, 2023
I don’t understand how people who cover this sport for a living have this take. Ridiculous to argue that this is the dirty play.
If he drives him to the ground he gets a roughing the passer penalty.
It’s an injury, it happens in football and we know this. https://t.co/oI28ceD45v
— Charlie Wilson (@charliereachplc) January 21, 2023
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you shouldn’t let a 1-tech come in untouched on your QB.
Also, the lack of consistency on roughing the passer calls is maddening. That is a flag every time if it was Mahomes.
— Shane Haff (@HAFFnHAFF_TPL) January 21, 2023
Someone explain to the difference between that hit on Lawrence and the roughing the passer penalty on the hit on Mahomes
— Braves Cold Takes (@BravesColdTakes) January 21, 2023
If that was Patrick Mahomes it’s roughing the passer
— Big John (@Coach_Knudsen) January 21, 2023
We really need to overhaul whatever ROUGHING THE PASSER is my goodness #JAXvsKC
— Nate Adams (@TheOnlyCritic) January 21, 2023
If that was roughing the passer earlier against the jags why was that not just roughing the passer against the chiefs?
— Jason 🐬 ⚔️ 🔥 (@IamJClary) January 21, 2023
Tell me why that wasn’t roughing the passer but when Arden Key does that same thing it’s ruled as roughing the passing… please be consistent refs
— Inter Jag (@brandon_mor) January 21, 2023
