The Atlanta Falcons may have had a chance for a come-from-behind win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers late in the fourth if a questionable call by the officials never happened.
The Falcons trailed 21-15 with just under three minutes on the clock when defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was flagged for “roughing the passer” on a third down sack on Bucs’ quarterback Tom Brady.
Per league rules, roughing the passer is a foul in which a defender makes illegal contact with the quarterback after they have thrown a forward pass. The penalty is a loss of 15 yards for the defense and an automatic 1st down for the offense.
You can see for yourself if Jarrett was out of line at all:
refs called this roughing the passer on 3rd down and i genuinely do not know what Grady Jarrett could have done differently
Tampa went on to finish the drive and run the clock down for a 21-15 win, marking their fifth-straight victory over Atlanta since Brady joined the team.
NFL Fans Trash Referees Across Social Media
NFL fans, including Tampa Bay fans, are not happy with the outcome of the game following the call on Jarrett.
“Falcons played their asses off just to have a bogus roughing call steal away an opportunity for them to win. As a Bucs fan this win is gross. Do better NFL,” a Tampa fan tweeted.
“I’m not even a falcons fan and I’m pissed about the roughing the passer call,” another non-Atlanta fan wrote on Twitter.
“I can’t remember the last time the whole internet was talking about a Falcons game. That’s how bad that call was,” a Falcons fan tweeted.
“Disgusting, horrific roughing the passer call. Jerome Boger should be fired and banned from all levels of football. Truly horrendous,” Reddit CFB chimed in.
“No dog in the fight, but that is a HORRENDOUS call against the Falcons. Holy smokes,” Atlanta Braves writer said.
Fox Sports analyst Shannon Sharpe also had some words to say, “Jerome Boger the referee in the Bucs gm. Just made the worst call of this early NFL season. NFL will need to offer an explanation on this BULLJIVE call. That was a text book sack and it was penalized. Falcons got hosed.”
Fans are also not happy with the NFL as disappointing calls just like this one have been happening game after game.
“That call!!! How can you even take the NFL seriously! What a joke!,” another Falcons fan wrote.
Some even think the officials were in favor of Tampa, specifically Brady.
“All the right things were happening for the Falcons and then Boger made the worst call I’ve ever seen to save Brady, pray for Falcons fans,” wrote a fan.
There are plenty of more where those comments came from and those are a lot nice than what others are currently saying.
Falcons Move to 2-3 After Loss
The Falcons move to a 2-3 record after the loss, but they fought until the end, even without their two top offensive weapons, tight end Kyle Pitts and running back Cordarelle Patterson.
Even head coach Arthur Smith had some encouraging words to say after the game, “I’m proud of our guys. We don’t ever think we’re out of the fight.”
“I’m proud of our guys. We don’t ever think we’re out of the fight.” -Arthur Smith
However, he declined to talk about the “roughing the passer” call on Jarrett.
“I didn’t talk to (the officials),” he said. I’m not going to comment on that. I have to figure out what I can do from a coaching standpoint. I’m not going to get into that. I haven’t seen the film.”
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NFL Fans React to ‘Bogus’ Call by Ref on Falcons DT Grady Jarrett