If you haven’t seen it by now, the Falcons were on the wrong end of a phantom roughing the passer call in the team’s 21-15 loss to the Buccaneers. In case you haven’t, here’s the video:
pic.twitter.com/BfA1iYPIvC #Bucs Tom Brady for roughing the passer call vs #Falcons
What??
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) October 9, 2022
The entire NFL landscape has been outraged. Every former player, coach, media personality, talk show host, and Twitter fan has voiced their displeasure about the egregious call from Jerome Boger, who defended his judgement by saying Grady Jarrett “unnecessarily” threw Tom Brady to the ground.
“What I had was the defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket and unnecessarily throwing him to the ground,” Boger said. “That is what I was making my decision based on.”
I’ve already said my piece on the call, so check that out if you haven’t. This article is about Brady acknowledging how abysmal the call was, describing the hit as “… a long hug, a long unwelcomed hug from Grady.”
Tom Brady on his Let's Go podcast about the roughing the passer penalty on Falcons DL Grady Jarrett. "It was a long hug, A long unwelcomed hug from Grady. He was in the backfield all day. As I said after the game, I don’t throw flags.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) October 10, 2022
Even Tom Brady, who has long benefited from referee’s terrible calls, joked about the hit. And if any Bucs fans somehow find themselves reading this piece and still don’t see the point. Here’s former NFL referee and rules expert Dean Blandino voicing his own displeasure with the missed call:
"It just doesn't fit into any bucket of roughing the passer. It's just not a foul."@DeanBlandino knows the penalty called on Grady Jarrett yesterday was the wrong call pic.twitter.com/ogyw8SLLwp
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) October 10, 2022
Tampa Bay fans might point to the missed pass interference call on the same drive, but that’s not the point. This type of stuff doesn’t belong in the game. Refs don’t think like, ‘oh well, we missed that call, so we’ll make up for it on this one.’ It was a call that cannot be defended, even if it may not have affected the ultimate outcome of the game.
The Falcons still would’ve had to go the length of the field for a touchdown. With Marcus Mariota at quarterback, that seems unlikely. But they deserved the chance to be able to win the game.
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Photo: Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire
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