The Dallas Cowboys benefitted from a questionable roughing the passer call during their game against the New York Jets on Sunday.
Dallas was leading 10-7 and had 3rd-and-goal at the New York 13-yard line with 2 minutes remaining in the first half. It looked like the Jets came away with a crucial stop when they forced Dak Prescott to throw an incomplete pass. However, the Cowboys were given a fresh set of downs when Jets defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers was flagged for roughing the passer because of a low hit on Prescott.
The big question is whether the hit was low enough to constitute roughing the passer. The NFL’s roughing the passer rules state that a defender “is prohibited from forcibly hitting in the knee area or below a passer who has one or both feet on the ground, even if the initial contact is above the knee.” If anything, it would be the last part that applied in this scenario.
Franklin-Myers appeared to initiate contact at Prescott’s hip. You could also argue that he was blocked into Prescott. Here is another angle:
The Cowboys went on to score a touchdown and tack on a 2-point conversation to take an 18-7 lead, so the call was a big one.
There was talk that the NFL might make a big change regarding roughing the passer during the offseason, but the rule did not pass.
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