Patriots’ Mack Wilson Flagged For Preposterously Soft Roughing-The-Passer Penalty
It didn't end up costing the Patriots, though
FOXBORO, Mass. — The NFL’s increased emphasis on protecting from injuries — particularly concussions — is warranted. Seemingly everyone agrees on that.
That said, officials sometimes are a bit too quick to throw the laundry.
That was the case during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game between the Patriots and Lions at Gillette Stadium. With Detroit facing a third-and-3 from New England’s 17-yard line, Jared Goff threw incomplete but got bailed out by an insanely soft roughing-the-passer penalty on Patriots linebacker Mack Wilson.
Take a look:
By the letter of the law, the officials got it right. Wilson technically got under Goff’s helmet and hit him on the chin.
However, you also could argue that Goff’s mini-jump created the penalized contact. He appeared to slide down onto the top of Wilson’s helmet.
Regardless, that kind of penalty probably wasn’t what the NFL had in mind when it came up with the rule.
