It took a little time for the Atlanta Falcons offense to get on the board during Sunday afternoon’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As the matchup entered the fourth quarter, Tampa held a 21-0 lead and looked like they were going to cruise to their third win at this early point in the NFL calendar.
And then, the Falcons started scoring. Atlanta got points early in the fourth, forced a three-and-out, had to punt, and forced yet another three-and-out by Tampa’s offense. Upon getting the ball back, the Falcons put together a 12-play, 70-yard drive that ended in points and a two-point conversion, meaning they’d win the game if they could score and convert a PAT.
While the Bucs got the ball back, their struggles on offense throughout the frame gave reason for optimism. On a third-and-5 from near midfield, it seemed like Grady Jarrett did his job, sacking Tom Brady and giving Atlanta’s offense more than two minutes to go down the field and score. The problem is that, for some reason, the referees threw a flag and called a roughing the passer penalty.
this was called roughing the passer pic.twitter.com/e65RbCJEL9
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) October 9, 2022
This may be the WORST roughing the passer penalty I’ve ever seen. Embarrassingly bad call. The Falcons got screwed.
(
: @TrainIsland)pic.twitter.com/KdvC0mi2KJ
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 9, 2022
It is extremely hard to see what Jarrett did wrong here. Anyway, Tampa would go on to win, 21-15.