Another week, another roughing the passer call that makes no sense. If there’s a day ending in “Y,” you know you’re going to see one. This time, the victim was pass-rusher Nick Bosa and the San Francisco 49ers.
With 12:52 left in the third quarter of the 49ers’ Thursday night game against the Seattle Seahawks, and San Francisco already with a 21-3 lead, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir picked off a Geno Smith pass attempt to Tyler Locket, and ran it back 37 yards to the house.
Sadly, it was all for naught, as referee Alex Kemp called Bosa for roughing the passer for this hit on Smith.
You make the call.
Nick Bosa roughing the passer eliminates the pick 6 pic.twitter.com/aDozTb3Vex
— alex (@highlghtheaven) December 16, 2022
Bosa took his hands off of Smith before both players hit the ground, but he failed to defy gravity, so there was the flag.
Seven plays later, on the same drive, Bosa sacked Smith and managed to sort of bunny-hop his way off of Smith in time to avoid another flag.
#49ers Nick Bosa dog walked Charles Cross to pick up the sack 😤 pic.twitter.com/S7OEcf4BlQ
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) December 16, 2022
There has been recent discussion about making roughing the passer reviewable, though the NFL is reportedly pushing back against that idea. It came up again after Miami Dolphins pass-rusher Jaelan Phillips was flagged for this hit on Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert last Sunday night.
this is the worst roughing the passer call in the history of the sport. what is jaelan phillips supposed to do?pic.twitter.com/b0zfy5ppRz
— Kyron Samuels (@kyronsamuels) December 12, 2022
The NFL later acknowledged that this penalty should not have been called. Perhaps the thing to do is to eliminate the codicil in the NFL rule book that states, “When in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic against the passer, the Referee should always call roughing the passer.”
