“This used to be routine football play!” – Referee calling a controversial roughing the passer call by Jeffery Simmons on Kenny Pickett has fans calling the league ‘soft’

Social media point out referees dishing out unnecessary roughing the passer calls on defenders.

“This used to be routine football play!” – Referee calling a controversial roughing the passer call by Jeffery Simmons on Kenny Pickett has fans calling the league ‘soft’

Titans Jeffery Simmons adjudged to roughing Steelers QB Kenny Pickett (Image via YouTube)

Week 8 of Thursday Night Football kicked off with the Tennessee Titans traveling to Acrisure Stadium to face the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game saw a total of 17 penalties awarded throughout the night, and some of them were questionable ‘roughing the passer’ calls.

10 were given against the home-side Steelers, which cost them 80 yards, while the Titans suffered seven for 51 yards. The most controversial one came late in the second quarter when Titans defensive end Jeffery Simmons saw the opening and launched himself at Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett.

As soon as the two players came into contact, a yellow flag was thrown. Pickett was slow to get back up, but the damage was already done regarding the play. The referee John Hussey called ‘roughing the passer’ and smacked a 10-yard penalty on the Titans.

Social media show their discontent for bad ‘roughing the passer’ calls from the referees during the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Tennessee Titans game

The penalty may have been great news for everyone cheering for the Steelers inside the stadium, but on social media, the situation was different. According to a few, it was a fair tackle, and the officials were being harsh on the Titans. Not only that, but a wave of criticism-filled posts flooded X.

"This used to be routine football play!" - Referee calling a controversial roughing the passer call by Jeffery Simmons on Kenny Pickett has fans calling the league 'soft' pittsburgh steelers Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans pass rusher Jeffery Simmons (Image via ESPN)

From former players to analysts, everyone chimed in with their knowledge regarding what ‘roughing the passer’ means. They claimed that at the rate the officials are giving away penalties for just breathing on another player, it will make defending even harder.

https://twitter.com/RossyonYT/status/1720251407876661523

Before the Simmons foul on Pickett, there was another similar call made by the referees at that time that was in favor of the Titans. Steelers star pass rusher T.J. Watt was penalized for wrongfully tackling Tennessee quarterback Will Levis.

Lately, such alleged mistakes from the referee have been on the rise. In the Monday night game against the Detroit Lions, Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson complained the referees were blind for overlooking blatant hits on Pickett that left him with bruised ribs.

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