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Falcons’ comeback attempt vs. Bucs spoiled by one of the worst roughing the passer calls in NFL history

This, in the words of Shannon Sharpe, was some bulljive.

By Jeanna.Kelley Updated
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Atlanta Falcons v Tampa Bay Buccaneers Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

I honestly didn’t expect the Falcons to take down the Buccaneers. But I also didn’t expect one of the worst calls I have ever seen in my entire football-watching life to rob the Falcons of a comeback opportunity.

With 3:03 remaining in the game, and the Falcons trailing 21-15, the Buccaneers were facing third-and-5 on Atlanta’s 47-yard line. Tom Brady took the snap, and was soon taken down by Grady Jarrett with a clean sack.

Except referee Jerome Boger didn’t think it was a clean sack. Boger flagged Jarrett for roughing the passer, so instead of the Buccaneers being stuck with a fourth-and-long, they got a fresh set of downs, forced the Falcons to use their last time out, and were able to run out the clock for the win.

As you can see above, Jarrett hits Brady cleanly. He wraps him up at the waist, and when they roll over on the ground, Jarrett clearly lifts himself up to his knees to avoid putting his body weight on Brady. What the hell else is he supposed to do here?

Pretty much the entire football world agrees with Falcons fans that this call was complete nonsense.

Braves standout Michael Harris II was as confused as the rest of us.

And Brady’s reaction to it makes me wish he’d just stayed retired.

I’ve got some problems with Jerome Boger’s “explanation” here.

That “explanation” is especially difficult to understand given that nobody on Boger’s crew thought this nearly identical hit on Mariota was a problem.

I’m just going to leave this here.

Anyway, at least the team was able to battle back after a really rocky start. It sure would have been nice if this terribad call hadn’t robbed them of the opportunity to fight for a win in this one.

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