Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers expects passing offenses around the NFL to be even more productive this season than they were last season, thanks to a stricter emphasis on illegal contact, pass interference and defensive holding.
Rodgers said after officials worked a Packers practice that the way the officials are calling those penalties this year, it can only help quarterbacks and wide receivers.
“I think you’re going to see the passing game reffed a little more tightly this year,” Rodgers said.
The best pass defense in the NFL last year was in Seattle, where opposing teams often complained that the Seahawks’ defensive backs got away with grabbing and holding receivers. Rodgers said he hopes penalties are called just as strictly in the Packers’ season opener at Seattle as they were when officials visited the Packers’ practice.
“I was joking with this crew that we might want them to head up to the Pacific Northwest in about a month,” Rodgers said.
If the NFL is serious about its officials getting strict with defensive backs, that will be bad news for teams like the Seahawks with physical pass defenses, and good news for teams like the Packers who rely on their passing offenses.