REPORT: NFL Considering Making Roughing The Passer A Reviewable Penalty

The National Football League is reportedly considering a rule change that would make hits one quarterbacks and defenseless players reviewable.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent stated that owners have had discussions about the idea while also considering whether or not a hit on a quarterback or defenseless player should warrant an automatic ejection:

I followed up on the ejections piece, which sounds a lot like the college targeting rule, and Troy said his personal opinion is it’d be difficult, and also made clear he’s against a Sky Judge or similar throwing flags. “I think chasing perfection is a dangerous place to go…”

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 14, 2022

NFL officiating has come under fire after multiple controversial roughing the passer penalties this season (and in years past). There have been several questionable “roughing the passer” calls that have affected the outcome of games. The latest was last Sunday during the Chargers-Dolphins game when Jaelen Phillips was called for roughing the passer on Justin Herbert.

Earlier in the season Atlanta Falcons star Grady Jarrett routinely sacked Tom Brady but was flagged for “roughing the passer.” The penalty helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers melt the clock en route to a 21-15 victory.

Clearly the NFL sees there needs to be a change but the big question is .. if you make the calls reviewable, will the referees admit they made a mistake? We saw how much of a disaster reviewing pass interference was.