Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on the roughing penalty Clay Matthews received Sunday for his hit on Kirk Cousins. Nearly everyone agrees it was a questionable call aside from NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Al Riveron, who insists it was correctly officiated and will use the hit as a “teaching tool” for teams this week.
Former Packers and Vikings quarterback Brett Favre still wonders why it was a 15-yard penalty on Matthews, even after hearing the NFL’s explanation.
“I saw a textbook hit,” Favre said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “It wasn’t late. I saw nothing that, you know, and Clay’s had a history of those type of plays. This one was textbook, and if you’re going to use it as a teaching video, you teach that this is the way we expect you to tackle, and that’s the way I saw it. And that’s neither being a Clay Matthews or Packer fan, or a Minnesota Viking fan or hater, you know, that was a bad call. And to me, why not be able to review that?”
It wouldn’t have mattered if the Packers could have reviewed it since Riveron believes it was an illegal hit.