The Falcons were on the wrong end of a ridiculous roughing the passer call against Buccaneers star Tom Brady.
Quarterbacks get special treatment in the NFL, but Tom Brady seems to get a ton of it more than anybody else.
On Sunday, a roughing the passer penalty helped seal a win for Tom Brady and the Buccaneers and fans lost their minds because it went a bit above and beyond the expected level of overprotection on a star quarterback.
The play in question came in the fourth quarter as the Bucs tried to hold on to a 21-15 lead. Falcons defensive lineman Grady Jarrett wrapped up the quarterback before bringing him to the ground for a huge third-down sack. The Falcons were set to get the ball back, needing a touchdown to win the game. But a flag flew on the play, and shortly thereafter, a roughing the passer penalty would be called.
As a result, the Buccaneers got 15 free yards and a fresh set of downs. After the Bucs picked up one more first down, Brady was able to take kneeldowns to end the game and secure the narrow victory.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg was among many viewers furious with the penalty.
“The roughing call they just gave to Brady might be the most embarrassingly bad NFL call in five years,” Greenberg wrote on Twitter. “And there is zero chance they call it for any other quarterback.”
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Several former NFL players also took to social media to blast the penalty.
“WORST CALL OF ALL TIME,” former NFL linebacker Will Compton tweeted.
“That’s a bulljive call against Jarrett. That was not roughing the passer on Brady,” Shannon Sharpe wrote.
“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.”
“This is absolute bullshit with this call against Grady bruh!!! No damn way,” Marcus Spears wrote. “Trash Trash Trash Refs Trash.”
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III also responded:
Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter:
The Bucs improved to 3-2 with that divisional win, and Brady improved to 11-0 lifetime against the Falcons.
