There was ample furor earlier this season when penalty flags were flying during NFL games for roughing-the-passer penalties that weren’t, in many cases, all that rough. The consternation was particularly intense over two calls made against Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews for what some described as textbook tackles. Many players and fans expressed their dismay that hits on quarterbacks had been all but banned, in their view, by the league.
The NFL’s competition committee intervened, issuing a clarification intended by committee members to change the way in which the roughing-the-passer rule was being officiated and put that enforcement more in line with the committee’s expectations.