Watch: Did Buccaneers' Tom Brady try to kick Falcons' Grady Jarrett multiple times?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-2 on the season after they were able to salt away what became a 21-15 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
The win was thanks largely to the fact that Atlanta's Grady Jarrett was called for arguably the most disputed roughing-the-passer penalty of the season late in the fourth quarter of the contest.
It appears Tampa Bay star quarterback Tom Brady should've been flagged on multiple occasions for his actions during incidents involving Jarrett.
As Jenna Lemoncelli shared for the New York Post, Brady appeared to kick Jarrett at least twice during Sunday's encounter, including immediately after the sack associated with the controversial roughing-the-passer call:
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg is among those who believe Brady and not Jarrett deserved to be penalized.
"The thread of commonality in it all is Tom Brady, by the way," Greenberg explained during Monday's edition of the "Get Up" program, according to Grant Bricker of Saturday Tradition. "Nothing could be more Brady than him trying to kick Grady Jarrett as he’s going off. If anyone else does that, they’re throwing a penalty on the guy on the ground. Tom Brady deserved a penalty on this play, not Grady Jarrett. He tried to kick him in the ding-ding, and the next thing you know, Grady Jarrett gets a 15-yard penalty."
Former defensive player and current ESPN personality Ryan Clark also bashed the roughing-the-passer flag.
"You can’t land on him with full body weight, you can’t hit him low, you can’t hit him in the head," Clark said of NFL rules meant to protect quarterbacks. "What he did was roll over with Tom Brady in his hand and lay him on the ground and then Brady tries to kick Grady in the Grady Jarrett maker."
Brady and the Buccaneers next play at the 1-4 Pittsburgh Steelers this coming Sunday. Meanwhile, the 2-3 Falcons will host the 3-2 San Francisco 49ers.
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