The NFL’s Competition Committee is set to have a conference call next week to discuss, among other topics, the spike in roughing the passer calls over the opening weeks of the regular season and one member of the committee shared his view on where things have gone wrong on Wednesday.
Saints head coach Sean Payton said that the league’s point of emphasis regarding flags for defensive players landing with their body weight on top of quarterbacks has been misinterpreted on some of the plays that have resulted in penalties this season.
“The point of emphasis in the offseason was very simple, and that was avoiding the player ‘intentionally’ placing all the weight on the quarterback,” Payton said, via the New Orleans Advocate. “Have we seen some that have been flagged that should not have been? Absolutely.”
A number of calls suggest that the point of emphasis has not been “very simple” for all officials and Payton said that there’s been inconsistency between different officiating crews about when to throw a flag. He said everyone needs to get on “the same page” and we’ll find out if next week’s conversation is able to get that done.