The Pittsburgh Steelers were on the wrong side of the latest terrible roughing the passer call during their crucial game against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Cleveland had the ball deep in Pittsburgh territory with the Steelers leading 20-7 early in the fourth quarter. Cam Heyward sacked Deshaun Watson on 2nd-and-7, which would have set up 3rd-and-15. However, a roughing the passer call on Heyward gave the Browns 1st-and-goal.
It is unclear what the referee who threw the flag saw. Heyward was probably called for slamming Watson into the turf, but replays showed that did not happen. He simply swung the quarterback down while making a normal tackle.
The Browns capitalized on the penalty and scored a touchdown two plays later. That cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 20-14.
We have seen terrible roughing the passer calls all season long. The NFL is reportedly considering a significant change to help fix the problem going forward. That can’t come soon enough.
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