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WATCH: NFL’s new roughing the passer rule is ruining opening Sunday for several fans
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Ah, the first Sunday of the NFL season. The only thing better is the first college football Saturday of the year. Now that both are underway, there’s no excuse to not have football on our televisions all weekend long.
Well, except for the fact that the NFL is making it easier to turn off the game and tune into something else.
During the preseason, fans went ballistic over the enforcement of the league’s new “body weight” roughing the passer rule, in which a defender cannot land with his weight on top of the quarterback. Some refer to it as the Aaron Rodgers rule, as the Green Bay QB was injured from a similar hit last season.
But the rule, and the interpretation has been awful. So terrible that fans may actually turn away from the game. Here are two examples of why fans are so disgusted with the new rule:
Roughing the passer call on Myles Garrett. Landed on Roethlisberger with his body weight. A fourth down stop turned into a touchdown the very next play. pic.twitter.com/fHGgRYTWSP
— Ollie Connolly (@OllieConnolly) September 9, 2018
https://twitter.com/barstooltweetss/status/1038869854143561728
Those seem to be pretty weak calls.
Yes, I understand that it’s the proper enforcement of the rule, but it’s hard for a defender to control his body at that height, weight and speed in real-time. It just doesn’t seem reasonable.
And fans are letting their feelings be known.
I have seen three *terrible* roughing the passer penalties today. Worse than nearly anything I saw last season. In one day. In Week 1.
This new rule is a joke.
— TOM MARTIN (@TwoCirclesTom) September 9, 2018
Somebody is going to have to tell me what is going on with roughing the passer.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) September 9, 2018
I'm not sure what Carlos Dunlap did there except actually tackle…but they threw a flag for roughing the passer.
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) September 9, 2018
https://twitter.com/NFL_Memes/status/1038871061075566599
So, there you have it. Nobody really seems to like the new rule. And some people still don’t even understand it. That’s not a good look for the NFL.
Why not just relive some of those great games from Saturday, instead?
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB