WATCH: Referees just called the worst roughing the passer penalty in the NFL this season
The way the NFL officiates roughing the passer penalties nowadays, it’s amazing they don’t make players ask for permission before hitting the quarterback. On Sunday afternoon, NFL fans got another prime example of this when former LSU defensive end Arden Key hit Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan while he had the football.
This has got to be one of the worst roughing the passer penalties in league history. Seriously, something needs to be done. It’s understandable that quarterbacks need to be protected but the NFL has gotten way, way too protective of the quarterback in the past few years.
Simply put, people love watching the hits and the violence. It’s part of the game. It’s a big reason why people buy tickets and show up to the stadium. It’s why they love to watch on TV. How else is a defender supposed to tackle a quarterback in this situation? There is no other way.
When an opposing player on offense has the football, you have to tackle him. Do they want Key to let Matt Ryan just run right by him untouched? Clearly, that’s where this is headed.
The coaches on the NFL rules committee need to do something soon. Roughing the passer needs to be enforced and in the right way. If quarterbacks don’t have any fear of getting hit by defenders, what’s going to stop them?
It’s already hard enough to play defense in the National Football League, these bogus roughing the passer penalties are not helping things.
The awful call in the Falcons-49ers game today took a perfectly legitimate sack from Arden Key and turned it into a first down for Atlanta. Former NFL referee Gene Seratore disagreed with the call, according to Charean Williams.
Arden Key having a career season, despite the awful roughing penalty
Whatever 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is doing with Arden Key, it’s working. He’s been on an absolute tear in the second half of the season for San Francisco, racking up six sacks since Week 8. That’s a top 10 mark in the NFL among defensive ends. It’s been a dramatic shift in his career numbers. He had three sacks in 37 games with the Las Vegas Raiders.
While he was at LSU, Key earned first team All-SEC honors in 2017. In his 31 career games in Baton Rouge, he racked up 21 sacks and 28 quarterback hurries.