NFL referees have drawn a lot of criticism this season for the calls they haven’t made — especially on illegal hits on quarterbacks. The process of getting those calls right remains a work in progress. On Thursday night, it was because of a flag they did throw.
NFL refs flag 1-hand touch as unnecessary roughness on the Giants
Really, NFL?
New York’s Eli Apple was flagged for touching Carson Wentz, despite trying to pull up and laying only one hand on him.
Apple attempted to pull up on the tackle as Wentz went into the slide. There was still some contact as Wentz slid into Apple, but it was with a single hand and hardly forceful. Wentz exaggerated the contact, and Apple was flagged.
It was a bad call. But the call becomes exponentially worse when you consider recent hits on quarterbacks that weren’t called. This defender wasn’t flagged for hitting a sliding Cam Newton last week. Not only was there significantly more contact, but there was also contact with Newton’s head.
Flagging illegal hits needs to be a priority for the NFL. However, overcompensating to the point where this is a flag is not the solution.
