There are three things that are certain in this life: death, taxes, and NFL refs making terrible decisions in big moments. Unfortunately, that continues to be more than true after what fans saw during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 5 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
On a crucial 3rd and long, that, if not completed, would have forced the Bucs to give the ball back to the Falcons with enough time to make a potential game-winning drive, Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett managed to break through the Bucs’ offensive line and sack QB Tom Brady.
Although Jarrett tackled Brady softer than how some people handle a carton of eggs, he was still called for roughing the passer, giving the Bucs a crucial 1st down and securing the win.
Now, let’s get this out of the way now; it was an awful call through and through. The roughing the passer calls in the league have been getting more and more egregious, and the league certainly needs to improve how they call it.
People around the league almost immediately erupted, especially those looking for a reason to go after Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. Curiously, none of the same people upset about that no call had nothing to say about the painfully-blatant pass interference on literally the play before the roughing the passer call.
If that pass interference was called how it should have been, then that 3rd-down play never occurs, and the Bucs win without any controversy. Missing that call is the much bigger travesty.
So, put aside the referees’ performance-it certainly wasn’t one call that allowed the Bucs to beat the Falcons. The game is four quarters, and the Falcons should have never even allowed themselves to be in a place where they were at the mercy of the refs.
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