Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger questioned the practicality of the NFL’s roughing the passer calls, which he said were too many.
“I don’t want to criticize the officiating, especially when you’re talking about a penalty that helps the quarterback out,” the 36-year old said. “But there are sure a lot of them. I can’t imagine the fans at home are enjoying too much.”
Surprisingly, the Steelers benefited from the calls in their Monday 30-27 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They also had two calls against them. Describing the calls in his favor, ‘Big Ben’ said he felt the second call was legitimate but the first one surprising.
“I was surprised at the first one,” Roethlisberger said. “The second one I thought was legit. He hit me in the helmet. It was kind of like hearing that loud ring when your helmet gets hit.”
In the first call against Tampa Bay, defensive player Gerald McCoy was flagged off one minute to the end of the first quarter. He was heard making an apology to Big Ben. In the second call, Roethlisberger was hit by Jason Pierre Paul to the helmet as he attempted to snatch the ball.
Away from Pittsburgh, defensive ends and quarterbacks alike have been very critical of the NFL’s’ roughing the passer calls this season. Dolphin’s William Hayes toke his ACL while allegedly trying to avoid getting flagged off.
