By the book, this was roughing the quarterback.
But should it be?
With 10 seconds remaining in the first half on Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens had driven into field goal territory against the Minnesota Vikings while trailing, 10-6. Linebacker Dallas Turner sacked Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson for a 10-yard loss at the 35-yard line, setting up what would have been a roughly 53-yard field goal attempt with less than 5 seconds remaining on the game clock.
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Instead, Vikings placekicker Tyler Loop attempted a relative chip-shot 30-yard field goal thanks to a controversial penalty. Officials immediately flagged Turner for roughing the passer on the hit. The penalty was enforced half the distance to the goal from 25-yard line of scrimmage.
Loop hit the field goal, and the Ravens went into halftime having cut their deficit to 10-9.
Here’s the hit. It was clean from the start with no contact to Jackson’s head or neck. But Turner finished with his body on top of Jackson, so officials flagged him for using his body weight to complete the hit.
This is the correct call per the NFL rulebook. But each time a penalty like this comes up, it raises obvious questions. How are NFL defenders supposed to play football if they can’t tackle the quarterback like any other player on the field?
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Fox analyst and Hall of Fame pass rusher Michael Strahan raised these very questions as the broadcast cut to the studio show at the break.
«That was a bad call,» Strahan said. «They’re talking about getting to the side, getting your weight off the quarterback. It’s impossible in the flow of the game. He’s just trying to make a play. He’s gonna hurt himself trying to avoid hurting somebody else.
«Any other person on the field, if you get hit like that, they just move on to the next one. At what point are we gonna realize, quarterbacks play football too? We’re all playing football.»
Strahan may be coming from a biased perspective. But his points stand.
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Football is an inherently dangerous sport that comes with considerable risk of injury to those playing it — quarterbacks included. As long as the NFL attempts to legislate the football out of football in the name of protecting some players over others, it will come under fire.
