The penalty on Za'Darius Smith negated an interception. Samantha Madar/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Watch: Za'Darius Smith called for terrible roughing-the-passer penalty on Jameis Winston

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated 9/12/21

The New Orleans Saints surprised many people with the way they dominated the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, but they got some help from the officials on one particularly bad call late in the game.

The Packers were desperately trying to get back in the game down 24-3 late in the third quarter, and it appeared they finally came up with a big play when they intercepted Jameis Winston in the end zone. The play did not stand, however, as Za’Darius Smith was called for roughing the passer for this hit on Winston:

they called this a roughing the passer on Za'Darius Smith

took away an INT pic.twitter.com/9uXJWDT1yt

— Slightly Biased (@BiasedSlightly) September 12, 2021

That was certainly a hard hit from Smith, but it looked clean. He basically tackled Winston with his arm and made no contact with the quarterback’s head. Smith also did not lead with his helmet.

The Saints took advantage of the bad call and scored a touchdown on the drive to increase their lead to 31-3.

Bad roughing-the-passer penalties have been an issue in the NFL for the past several years. We saw some horrendous ones last season, and we’d hate to see that theme continue in 2021.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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