Posted on 10/11/2022 12:27:08 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The Chris Jones sack of Derek Carr takes the lead
As football fans, thought nothing could top the roughing the passer penalty called on Grady Jarrett during his fourth-quarter sack of Tom Brady during Sunday’s game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
We were wrong.
During Monday night’s game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs, defensive tackle Chris Jones accomplished something that in over three decades of watching football I did not think was possible.
Commit a roughing the passer penalty while holding the football:
Jones breaks around the edge and tracks Derek Carr down from behind, ripping the football out of his hands and crashing to the turf with the quarterback.
Instead of the Chiefs taking over possession, with a chance to cut into Las Vegas’ 17-7 lead, the Raiders’ drive continued. Las Vegas finished the drive with a field goal, extending their lead to 20-7.
As was the case with the Brady sack on Sunday, the reaction on social media was quick, and filled with shock.
As with the penalty called on Jarrett in his takedown of Brady, the officials likely looked at a portion of the roughing the passer rules when throwing the flag on this play. According to the rules, the following conduct is considered a penalty:
When tackling a passer who is in a defenseless posture (e.g., during or just after throwing a pass), a defensive player must not unnecessarily or violently throw him down or land on top of him with all or most of the defender’s weight. Instead, the defensive player must strive to wrap up the passer with the defensive player’s arms and not land on the passer with all or most of his body weight.
While Jones’ play here might technically qualify as a penalty, it is hard to believe that what he does here in the strip-sack of Carr is consistent with the spirit and purpose of the rules. He is making a football play, ripping the ball out of the quarterback’s hands, and then crashing to the turf in the process, along with Carr.
Asking a defender in Jones’ position to do something different seems like an impossible ask.
After the game on Sunday, Jerome Boger pointed to this portion of the rulebook as the reason for the flag on Jarrett:
We can only anticipate a similar statement following tonight’s game
Yep, he had the football and got the penalty as well...................
It was a non-PC tackle.
Are you not allowed to tackle the QB anymore?
I haven’t been watching for 5 years now.
But when I did watch, one was allowed to tackle the QB.
Look up Leonard Marshall sack of Joe Montana...
wow... how dare that defensive tackle rough up that quarterback like that... sheesh... they will take all the fun out of football soon.
joe theismann career ender too
The commentators on another sports show said they are not allowed to fall on TOP of the QB any more............
I don’t like watching that one.
I didn’t see the play, but I’ve seen Alex Smith in shorts.
Good Lord, it looks like he got hit by an IED...
Gay.
Somewhere Dick Butkus is thanking God he played back when football was still football.
I know I wouldn’t want a 300+ pound lineman falling on top of me at 15mph.......................
What about the defensive holding call against the Raiders on a missed KC FG try? They got another shot at the FG and made it. Has anyone ever seen a def. holding during a FG? I haven’t ever seen it. But boy, it sure did affect the game.
the rules are applied wily nily .
For a three year $121.5 million contract I would risk it.
As a Cowboys fan I know exactly what you’re talking about!.....................😒
It’s a Risk Vs Benefit decision...…😎
Jones should have gotten credit for 1) QB sack, 2) forced fumble, and 3) fumble recovery. All on one play!
The real question is why did the Raiders go for 2 and not get the tie.
I didn't like the call and the weekly random interpretations of the rules even after the replay which showed the defender had the ball but the writer is being a bit disingenuous here.
Crashing to the turf "along" with Carr? Haha, he crashed to the turf on top of Carr. Most likely, the ref was behind and didn't see the strip and just saw the defender flattening Carr with his body. But the replay, if I recall correctly, did appear to show the defender was twisting away a bit as they went down.
The game is too fast for an official to determine intent in most cases, this being one. The helmet to head calls are also pretty lame as both players are pretty much moving targets. We were always taught to "Put a Riddell on the sumbitch!" and wrap him up. Now, might as well drop the charade and hang little pink ribbons off the marquee players' belts.
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