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Watch: Questionable roughing call on Nick Bosa takes pick-six off the board
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Questionable roughing the passer call on Nick Bosa takes Niners' pick-six off the board

In what's turning into a weekly happening, San Francisco 49ers' edge rusher Nick Bosa was called for what appeared to be a questionable roughing the passer penalty Thursday night against Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. 

It's hard to see what officials saw from the play to warrant throwing a flag. Bosa didn't go low, and he didn't go high. He didn't throw Smith to the ground unnecessarily. Nor did he land on top of the quarterback with all his body weight.

The NFL wants to keep its quarterbacks healthy, which is admirable. However, the league needs to find a happy medium, as the calls impact games. Not only did the flag on Bosa keep the drive alive, leading to a Seahawks' field goal, but it also wiped a pick-six by Deommodore Lenoir off the scoreboard. 

Thursday's roughing penalty on Bosa isn't the first to draw the ire of football fans. Last week alone, several made the rounds on social media. 

Despite the increase in debatable calls, NFL executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, defended officials to reporters at this week's NFL December league meeting, saying they've been "very consistent and accurate" before adding, 'but they are human." 

Vincent also said there would be a "healthy discussion" about whether or not the NFL will allow roughing the passer fouls to be reviewable and if reviews would occur via a coaches' challenge or league review.

Mike Santa Barbara

Mike Santa Barbara is a Wilmington, Delaware native (Yes, it's a real place) with over a decade of sports writing experience. A diehard Philadelphia sports fan, he has two dogs named after Flyers and cried real tears when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. You can follow him on Twitter at @mike__sb

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