The NFL isn’t trying to hide its goal to better protect quarterbacks, but many football fans feel the league is being downright unfair to defenders in the process.
Arguably no player has felt the wrath of extended quarterback safety this season more than Clay Matthews. The Packers linebacker was flagged for a questionable roughing-the-passer penalty on Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins in Week 2, which ended up being a pivotal call in the Green Bay-Minnesota tie.
Well, Matthews was left feeling helpless again Sunday afternoon when he was penalized for roughing the passer, this time on an equally controversial sequence involving Washington Redskins quarterback Alex Smith.
This is a foul for roughing the passer – the defender lands “with all or most of the defender’s weight” on the passer. Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9(b): https://t.co/s9YKN8NLuT #GBvsWAS pic.twitter.com/ei2QZkvvzx
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) September 23, 2018
Mike McCarthy went ballistic after the referees launched their yellow flags, but the Packers coach hardly was the only person that disagreed with the call. McCarthy was joined by countless Twitter users, who voiced their opinion as the play went down.
How Clay Matthews is gonna have to start sacking QBs pic.twitter.com/tTybPrd9Nm
— Dan (@AtIantaDan) September 23, 2018
This is just unfair – to Clay Matthews and all pass rushers!!! QBs today are playing flag football, while it’s tackle for the other 21 guys. When comparing today’s QBs’ stats to those of yesteryear, remember that!!!
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) September 23, 2018
I, for one, am not positive the call against Clay Matthews was correct.
— Dave Dameshek (@Dameshek) September 23, 2018
Seriously, Clay Matthews is gonna have to start sacking QBs like this. pic.twitter.com/smN79X3Yay
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 23, 2018
That’s a joke. Just an absolute joke. What the hell is Clay Matthews supposed to do? That’s football. Give me a break.
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) September 23, 2018
This is absolutely ridiculous. It's no longer football. For the second week in a row, Clay Matthews did nothing wrong. Nothing. And yet he gets penalized and robbed of a big play.
— Tom Oates (@TomOatesWSJ) September 23, 2018
Clay Matthews is no longer allowed to sack quarterbacks. It is against the rules.
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) September 23, 2018
Just saw the Clay Matthews alleged roughing the passer. What are we doing here?
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 23, 2018
Protecting the quarterback obviously is important, but you also need to allow football players to play football. Reckless plays should not be tolerated, but Matthews’ sack on Smith looked clean to us.
