The NFL has been under fire for their handling of roughing the passer penalties this season. While the amount of roughing the passer penalties is actually down, it does not feel that way since many of the calls are controversial to say the least. Defenders are being flagged for simply having their weight on a quarterback after a sack, which directly flies in the face of what the most physical sport in America is about.
Protecting the quarterback has reached a new level, which has players at other positions wondering why they can't get a scintilla of the kind of protection quarterbacks do on potentially dangerous plays. Take Dallas Cowboys star defender Micah Parsons for example, who had his neck jumped on by Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman Luke Fortner Sunday after he recovered a fumble. Parsons took to Twitter to point that out.
Still no one talking bout this guy jumping on my neck?! But yet we can’t land on a quarterback! https://t.co/qDNwwAILlv
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) December 19, 2022
The NFL's goal is to protect its players, and it makes sense that protecting the most important position is at the top of the list. At the same time, football is a physical game -- as everyone understands. Even Washington Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke said earlier this season that these calls are "ruining the game." Last week, NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent revealed that the league would discuss the possibility of making roughing the passer a reviewable penalty, so changes may be coming.
Parsons' tweet may be more of a statement on how quarterbacks are treated as opposed to him genuinely looking for a flag, but the kinds of hits quarterbacks can and cannot take legally will continue to be discussed.
