The NFL May Decide To Review Specific Controversial Calls
The officials in the NFL have a hard job, and they cannot get everything right.
Every fan can name at least one time this season when they believed that the officials’ decision was wrong, or that some form of double standard exists.
The most controversial calls this season have been calls related to the penalty for roughing the passer.
It does seem that the definition of what constitutes a penalty for roughing the passer seems to change on a weekly basis.
One week the NFL is fine with a linebacker running into a quarterback.
The next week if you breathe on a quarterback, that’s a penalty.
This is a controversial and contentious issue in the NFL and something had to be done about it.
It seems like something may be done about this soon.
This would be significant: Troy Vincent says there was discussion among owners today about whether a hit on a QB or other defenseless player should 1) Be reviewable; and/or 2) Be an automatic ejection.
Any change would go through the normal process and vote at the March meeting.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 14, 2022
More Reviews?
According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, there was a meeting today of the NFL owners.
These meetings are important, as it is only through them can any rule changes can happen.
Today the discussion was about what should happen when a player hits a quarterback or another defenseless player.
They came up with two solutions.
One of these would be that a hit on a defenseless player would be an immediate ejection from the game.
If this hit is serious and dangerous then yes, they should be ejected from the game.
But what would be criteria be for this kind of hit?
The other solution that they came up with would be more widely accepted by all.
They have proposed that hits on the QB can be reviewed.
This would allow for coaches who feel wronged by a penalty to review it, potentially overturning the penalty.
This may also give us a definitive answer to what is a roughing the passer penalty, as right now, it seems it could be anything.