The reason? The officials whistled Kansas City defensive lineman Chris Jones for a roughing the passer call with 1:13 left in the first half.
It initially looked like Jones had logged a game-changing strip sack and fumble recovery against Derek Carr. The Chiefs were down 17-7 at the time and were hopeful to score before halftime.
However, Cheffers and Co. ruled that Jones had landed on Carr with his full body weight; that constituted a roughing the passer call.
The call was heavily criticized by fans, media analysts and players alike even after the Chiefs’ 30-29 win.
MORE: Roughing the passer call against Chris Jones sparks NFL rules debate
Carl Cheffers explains Chris Jones roughing the passer penalty
Even still, Cheffers defended his crew’s call in the postgame pool report. Why? Because the NFL rulebook states that the defender is not allowed to put his full body weight on the quarterback when bringing him to the ground.
“The quarterback is in the pocket and he’s in a passing posture,” Cheffers told a pool reporter. “He gets full protection of all the aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing posture. So, when he was tackled, my ruling was the defender landed on him with full body weight. The quarterback is protected from being tackled with full body weight. My ruling was roughing the passer for that reason.”
Indeed, such a rule exists. It is contained within Rule 12, Article 11, Section B of the NFL rulebook, which bans “stuffing” the quarterback into the ground:
However, the disagreement with Cheffers’ call was less about the existence of the rule and more about its relevance to the play. Many believed that Jones braced his fall with his left arm while coming to the ground.
Others turned their attention to the fact that Jones had forced and recovered a play and wondered why a penalty was called given that he was fighting for the ball. Cheffers clarified after the game that the fumble had no impact on the call
“[Carr] still gets passing protection until he can defend himself,” he said. “So, with him being in a passing posture and actually attempting to make a pass, he’s going to get full protection until the time when he actually can protect himself. The fact that the ball came out and was subsequently recovered by the defense is not relevant as far as the protection the quarterback gets.”
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Chris Jones criticizes NFL’s roughing the passer rules
Cheffers’ explanation did little to quell the outrage surrounding the play. Chiefs fans heartily booed the officials for the duration of the first half and into the second while numerous former coaches took to Twitter to discuss the rule.
And during a postgame interview, Jones himself railed against the NFL’s roughing the passer rules.
“How should I tackle people?” he said, per ESPN. “How should I not roll on him? I’m trying my best. I’m 325 pounds, OK? What do you want me to do? I’m going full speed trying to get the quarterback.''
Jones had a potential way for the NFL to fix what he believes to be a faulty rule. He wants the league to make it a reviewable penalty.
“They have put such an emphasis on roughing the passer penalties that we’ve got to be able to review it in the booth,’’ Jones said. “That’s the next step. … Sometimes looks can be deceiving. Now it’s getting absurd. Now it’s costing teams games.
“I actually stripped the ball and gravity kind of took me to the ground. That’s a roughing the passer call at a critical situation in the game. It’s third down, and we’re down 10 points. … A lot of these roughing the passer calls would be called back [after video review].''
Jones’ suggestion will likely be popular with fans after they saw two games impacted by controversial roughing calls in Week 5. Jones’ on Monday night was in the national spotlight, but Tom Brady was the beneficiary of one that helped the Buccaneers seal a win over the Falcons on Sunday.
MORE: Tom Brady roughing the passer call met with even more confusing explanation from referee Jerome Boger
Would the NFL implement reviews for roughing the passer? It seems unlikely. The league tried that with pass interference during the 2019 season, but officials showed an unwillingness to change calls.
But still, in wake of this fan outrage, it seems likely that the NFL will review its roughing the passer rules during the 2023 offseason at the very least.
