NFL fans will have mixed feelings about one proposed rule that did not get passed at the 2023 NFL owners’ meetings.
It involved the contentious roughing the passer penalty.
No one has a problem with the penalty itself; it is the enforcement of it that leads to problems.
One officiating crew’s definition of roughing the passer is never the same as another crew’s interpretation.
As a result, there are inconsistencies all over the place on this call.
A proposal for 2023, recommended by the Los Angeles Rams, was to make the roughing the passer penalty reviewable.
It was not approved.
The proposal to make roughing the passing reviewable was not approved, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 28, 2023
This means fans are in for more of the same with inconsistent roughing-the-passer calls.
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton identified this as an issue that is problematic for the league.
“How do we get 17 crews seeing things the same way? So it’s not just one crew. It’s like, that’s a challenge in any endeavor to get 17 groups of people to act behave react the same way and see things the same way.”
Payton also told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the worst, the roughing-the passer situation is personally ranked by him at a 3.
Count #Broncos coach Sean Payton among those who would like to see roughing the passer addressed, as he made clear when I asked what one competitive change the NFL should make: “Let’s say crisis is Level 5. I'd say (this is) Level 3.”
From our interview today: pic.twitter.com/2RcvYkrETs
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 27, 2023
Expect More Controversy And Inconsistency
There are no other parameters in place to try to make this call less controversial and more consistent among officiating crews.
Expect more of the same no-calls that should have been calls and calls that should not have been called.
here’s the perfect example of why ‘roughing the passer’ should be reviewable. @nfl pic.twitter.com/i7KDSxNgc9
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 27, 2023
More common sense is needed by the officials, but that is difficult to define.
The only benefit of this not being a reviewable call is that the game will not be slowed down with the review.
The officials need to use more common sense with roughing the passer. Some of the calls are downright embarrassing. Reviewing it would just slow down the game even more, though. #Steelers #NFL https://t.co/1uuSvWEWPw
— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) March 28, 2023
Not Much Discussion Or Debate
This was reportedly not a hot topic that elicited a lot of discussion at the meeting.
Rich McKay says there also wasn't much support for making roughing the passer reviewable. "It wasn't a long discussion. And then we voted and it did not pass."
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) March 28, 2023
A lack of support to make this change made this item a quick one to resolve on the agenda.
Even though it was a quick discussion at Tuesday’s meeting, that does not mean it will stop being discussed week in and week out during the 2023 season when teams and fans are subjected to more errant roughing-the-passer penalties.
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