If you watched the NFL on Sunday hoping to watch the game of football, you were sorely disappointed. Instead, what fans were treated to was the clear and obvious attempt by the NFL to make football illegal by penalizing it to death.
While the examples presented here are by no means the only examples of this, they are perhaps the most egregious.
Exhibit 1 comes from the Commanders-Patriots game where Washington defensive end KJ Henry committed a horrendous act of football by sacking Patriots QB Mac Jones, which is no longer allowed.
WHAT
This is a sack, but instead the refs flagged him for Roughing the Passer?
WHAT ARE WE EVEN DOING HERE? pic.twitter.com/EZSTxcy0Ud
— Chad Ryan (@ChadwikoTWW) November 5, 2023
KJ Henry was called for roughing the passer on this play. Without exaggeration, I can honestly say there has never been a worse call in the history of the NFL. The league justified the flag by claiming Henry should have “gator rolled” or “crab walk” to prevent his weight from falling on Jones.
NFL ref Adrian Hill on the KJ Henry roughing call: “the call was roughing the passer due to full body weight. The ruling on the field was that the defender came down with forceable contact, chest-to-chest.” Full Q&A with @NickiJhabvala below pic.twitter.com/O6PQaOrsFI
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) November 5, 2023
Hmm…so the league penalized Henry because he didn’t roll. And if he had rolled he wouldn’t have drawn a penalty? Well, if that’s the case, then Buffalo’s Tim Settle Jr. certainly shouldn’t have been called for roughing the passer on this hit against Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow.
: This was called Roughing the passer pic.twitter.com/xRcUfRc87Jhttps://t.co/akYbQSubuQ
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 6, 2023
However, Settle was called for roughing the passer on that play even though he rolled and prevented himself from falling onto Burrow the way the league claims they want players to do.
Mac Jones, #10 of the New England Patriots, is hit during the first half in the game against the Washington Commanders at Gillette Stadium on November 05, 2023, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
What a ridiculous farce to ask professional athletes to tackle a QB to the ground but stick their arms out to prevent themselves from falling onto the QB. This is not football.
Exhibit 2 came from last week and was shared by former NFL great and current CBS analyst JJ Watt. In it, Ravens FB Pat Ricard commits the crime of blocking.
I will say it again… This is STEALING money from guys.
These absurd fines for routine football plays have got to stop.
Fines for intentfully malicious plays?
Absolutely.Taking $21,694 from a guy for this?!
What are we doing. This is out of control. https://t.co/GC05qoUScs
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) November 5, 2023
As Watt states, Ricard was fined for this. In earlier, more sane times, this video would have been shown as an example of a perfect block. In the era of faux football in which we currently live, it’s a $21,000 fine. Watt calls this “stealing money.” And, of course, it is. But it’s worse than that. It’s also the erasing of football. As Vince Lombardi said, football is blocking and tackling. Well, in 2023, it is not about that.
We close out with a video that would have scarcely been imaginable 20 years ago or even 10 years ago.
The offender here is Panthers DB Xavier Woods. His crime? Doing his job by trying to separate Colts receiver Michael Pittman from the ball.
Personal foul was called here on Panthers DB Xavier Woods. #INDvsCAR pic.twitter.com/iqR8Bkwdds
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) November 5, 2023
Seriously, in what galaxy is that an illegal hit? What is the defender supposed to do?
There have been many jokes over the years about how the NFL has become like flag or touch football. If the league doesn’t take serious and immediate corrective action, they should seriously consider moving to two-hand touch, at least as it pertains to the quarterback. The horrifically fraudulent call against KJ Henry cost the Commanders three points. The roughing call against Miami’s Christian Wilkins cost the Dolphins a touchdown in their game against Philadelphia last week.
These calls are not just infuriating and sad. Of course, they are not of those things. But, more importantly, they’re determining the outcome of games. And if the NFL is chosen to structure its rules in such a way as to make the quarterback, not a football player, then it would probably be better just to quit the charade and make a two-hand touch equal a sack.
Never thought it would come to that. But we are clearly at that point.