Watch: Deion Sanders blasts roughing call in Cowboys-Bucs game

Deion Sanders. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Deion Sanders blasts roughing the passer call in Cowboys-Buccaneers game

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 1/17/23

Add Hall of Famer and current Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders to the list of people annoyed with the NFL's enforcement of the roughing the passer rule.

As Reice Shipley noted for The Comeback, Sanders was serving as a guest for the ESPN2 "Manningcast" broadcast of Monday's wild-card playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Tampa Bay's Akiem Hicks was flagged for roughing Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott in the first quarter.

"C’mon man, they can’t even touch you guys anymore," Sanders said to retired signal-callers Peyton and Eli Manning. "Don’t you want to play right now? Tell the truth, don’t you guys want to play right now?"

Sanders later said the call was "ridiculous," and he repeatedly asked where roughing had occurred on the play:

"WHERE IS THE ROUGHING? WHERE IS THE ROUGHING? WHERE IS THE ROUGHING?"- Deion Sanders #ManningCast pic.twitter.com/Om3yccTJh0
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 17, 2023

Greg Auman covers the NFC South for Fox Sports and attempted to explain the referee's mindset:

Bucs flagged for roughing the passer -- Akiem Hicks 15 yards and Cowboys are across midfield. Didn't look serious but landed with his weight on him.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) January 17, 2023

While that call prolonged a Dallas offensive drive that ended with a touchdown, it likely meant little as it pertains to the contest's final score. The Cowboys dominated the Buccaneers throughout the evening to earn an impressive 31-14 victory they probably would've notched had Hicks not been penalized in that instance.

For the second straight day, though, the NFL gave fans a widely-disputed roughing the passer decision that impacted at least a drive. On Sunday, New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was flagged for a hit on Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins that seemed clean to many watching at home. That call left Lawrence and Giants head coach Brian Daboll enraged, but the Giants nevertheless held on for a 31-24 win.

The NFL's competition committee reportedly will discuss making roughing the passer reviewable this offseason. One thing the league presumably would prefer to avoid over the final few weeks of the postseason tournament is referees generating headlines with questionable calls as they did on both Sunday and Monday.

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