After the committee reviewed 80 roughing the passer plays over the weekend, it’s unlikely the new rule will be passed.
Sunday night, NFL Network’s Judy Battista reported an NFL team proposed a new rule that would make roughing the passer reviewable by replay. It’s one of the most subjective rules in the league that has seemingly gotten worse each year.
Nick Bosa would’ve had another sack and Deommodore Lenoir would’ve scored a touchdown had this rule been reviewable last year:
in what word is that roughing the passer? #ThursdayNightFootball #NFLTwitter pic.twitter.com/dBa7ktwTP9
— just nfl stuff (@justnflstuff) December 16, 2022
According to Battista, the proposal isn’t expected to be supported by the league’s Competition Committee. The vote will take place at the owners meetings at the end of March.
The reason this is newsworthy today is the NFL’s Competition Committee held meetings on Sunday in Indianapolis ahead of the NFL Scouting Combine. Per Battista, the committee looked at more than 80 roughing the passer plays and only found three questionable:
The conversation was centered on “sling vs. slam.” The slam, when a defender picks up the quarterback in the air and slams him onto the ground, is when it becomes problematic, according to Battista. The “sling” is considered the natural progression of the play.
If you watch Bosa’s penalty above, there was no sling or slam. He fell on the quarterback he was trying to tackle, yet it was still deemed a penalty.
If the officials can’t keep track of the rule, how are the players supposed to know what to do?