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Ridiculous Roughing-the-Passer Penalties Add to Packers’ Ridiculous Tally

The Packers were flagged twice for roughing the passer against the Lions, part of an almost unprecedented disparity.
Bill Huber|
Packers defensive tackle did not get close to Jared Goff so was not flagged for roughing the passer.
Packers defensive tackle did not get close to Jared Goff so was not flagged for roughing the passer. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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Green Bay Packers

DETROIT – With about 4 minutes to go in the third quarter on Sunday against the Lions, Green Bay Packers edge player Brenton Cox was flagged for roughing the passer.

It was a killer penalty.

And, in retrospect, comical in that dark humor sort of way.

Late in the play, Cox fought his way past Cade Mays. In a last-ditch effort to keep Cox away from his quarterback, Mays tried to push Cox past Jared Goff. Cox hit Goff with two hands in the midsection. Goff tipped over like Humpty Dumpty – Cox appeared to try to grab Goff to keep him upright – and a flag was thrown.

“I was trying” to hold up, Cox said. “But it’s like it’s a superstar quarterback. I’m trying to make a name for myself and they’re going to call it every time. I honestly felt the refs should know the difference between what’s intentional and what’s not, and what’s violent and what’s not. It’s a new game right now. You can’t get close.”

Goff’s third-and-10 pass fell incomplete, but Cox’s penalty gave the Lions a first down. They eventually drove to the Packers’ 6-yard line, where the drive stalled. So, while the penalty didn’t give the Lions points, it did bury the Packers in horrible field position.

Then, late in the fourth quarter with the score tied at 17, Goff hit tight end Sam LaPorta for 18 yards. The moment Goff threw the pass, he was hit by Karl Brooks. Brooks didn’t hit him late. He didn’t land on him with body weight. He didn’t hit Goff in the head.

But the moment Goff hit the turf, he pointed to the referee and got rewarded. Another 15 yards was tacked on in a critical moment.

“My goodness, what is that?” wondered Fox broadcaster Tom Brady. “It’s definitely not roughing the passer.”

The penalty moved the ball to Green Bay’s 40-yard line and helped set up the game-winning field goal.

“I don’t even want to comment on any of the penalties,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “It is what it is. You got to play above it. I thought there were some tough calls, but it is what it is.”

8-0 on Roughing Calls

Those two penalties were part of a day that had the Packers crying foul – and worse – about the officiating.

Incredibly, the Packers have been flagged eight times for roughing the passer this season. That’s the most in the league, according to NFL Penalties. Carolina, Cleveland and Kansas City are next with four, so the Packers have double the second-ranked figure.

On the other hand, Jordan Love, who has faced the second-most pressures (according to Pro Football Focus) and been hit the third-most times (official stats), hasn’t drawn a single roughing penalty.

“It is what it is. Another one of those things, it’s out of my control,” Love said. “Just go out there, focus on doing my job, playing the game and let the calls be the calls. But, yeah, it is what it is.”

Apparently, Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is coaching his team like it’s the 1970s Raiders while Love has faced seven consecutive games against choir boys and Boy Scouts.

Added together, the Packers are down 8-0 in roughing-the-passer penalties. That is equal to the next three teams combined: The Browns and Chiefs (minus-3) and the Seahawks (minus-2) are the only teams worse than minus-1.

“Yeah, definitely, we talk all the time,” Love said of conversations with the officials. “Especially if you feel like it might be a roughing, you talk to them, have those conversations, tell them to look out for it, and they communicate back.

“I saw the replays on the ones we got called on, you know, it’s tough. We always tell the defense, how can we be better? And we always talk about lowering the strike zone, focusing on not landing with body weight on the guys. So, I think it’s tough, and … yeah.”

For Roughing Reference

NFL Penalties has data going back to the 2009 season, with its season numbers including the playoffs. Only three teams over those past 17 seasons finished with more roughing penalties than the Packers have been deemed guilty of in seven games season.

The Bears last season were guilty of nine roughing penalties and finished minus-6. The Jets in 2020 were guilty of 14 and finished minus-12. The Ravens were guilty of 11 in 2019 but were only minus-4.

So, the Packers are breaking trail, 15 yards at a time.

“It just be bulls**** that’s going on, bullshit calls, and I can’t really tell you because sometimes we’re not seeing the same calls for our quarterback, we’re not seeing the same calls for our offensive guys,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “I just don’t really understand. It really don’t matter if it’s home or way, it’s kind of been consistent throughout the year. Obviously, it’s not to make it as an excuse but I just say it got to go both ways, man.”

The eight roughing penalties have given Green Bay’s opponents 102 yards. That’s more penalty yards than eight teams have total on defense. The Vikings, whose blitzing, attacking defense is why they are the only undefeated team in the league, have been flagged only once for roughing. 

Four players are tied for the NFL lead with two roughing penalties. Green Bay holds three of those spots with Lukas Van Ness, Brooks and Cox.

LaFleur was in no mood to complain. As he said last week, he just wants it officiated both ways. That 8-0 disparity is anything but both ways.

“I can say what I really think,” LaFleur said after the game, “but I don’t think it does any good. So, it is what it is. You just got to overcome it.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.