We all know that officiating in the NFL this season has been awful, but the roughing the passer penalty called against Washington Commanders edge-rusher K.J. Henry after Henry sacked New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was a real doozy.
It happened with 11:18 left in the third quarter, and the Patriots up, 14-10. Henry came off left tackle to sack Jones, but the officiating crew, led by referee Adrian Hill, somehow decided that this should not stand.
This was called roughing the passer…
pic.twitter.com/XxjO4Yue3T— PFF (@PFF) November 5, 2023
Former VP of Officating and current FOX Sports rules analyst Dean Blandino came on the telecast, and explained what happened after e heavy sigh.
Dean Blandino, on the FOX broadcast RE: the roughing call on K.J. Henry: pic.twitter.com/s9hZccW2rX
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) November 5, 2023
The NFL has upped the ante on roughing the passer calls, telling officials in the rule book that a flag should be thrown if there’s even an appearance of it. but I don’t know how you call this play anything remotely like that particular penalty.
