Officials missed at least one roughing the passer call on Cam Newton on Sunday
And there was another hit on the Panthers QB that could've drawn a flag
By
Will Brinson
•
4 min read
Sunday's game between the Rams and Panthers was unsurprisingly physical, a battle of two aggressive defensive teams. It also, unsurprisingly, featured a couple of hits on Cam Newton that went ignored by the officiating crew.
After Carolina defeated the Cardinals in Week 8, Newton complained about the unfair treatment he received from officials, saying he doesn't feel safe on the field. The expectation Sunday was that there would be more scrutiny on defenders launching themselves at Newton, but on two plays that wasn't necessarily the case.
To be clear: The following two hits are borderline. They are plays that would have been shrugged off 10 years ago. But if it was another quarterback who took the shots below, not only would said quarterback have been on the ground a little longer, but there would likely have been laundry all around him.
The two calls in question are also pretty solid examples of Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9(c):
In covering the passer position, Referees will be particularly alert to fouls in which defenders impermissibly use the helmet and/or facemask to hit the passer, or use hands, arms, or other parts of the body to hit the passer forcibly in the head or neck area (see also the other unnecessary roughness rules covering these subjects). A defensive player must not use his helmet against a passer who is in a defenseless posture--for example, (1) forcibly hitting the passer's head or neck area with the helmet or facemask, even if the initial contact of the defender's helmet or facemask is lower than the passer's neck, and regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the passer by encircling or grasping him; or (2) lowering the head and making forcible contact with the top/crown or "hairline" parts of the helmet against any part of the passer's body. This rule does not prohibit incidental contact by the mask or non-crown parts of the helmet in the course of a conventional tackle on a passer.
To the hits in question.
First up is the one that's closest to being legal to me -- a blast/forearm shiver Mark Barron laid on Newton for a sack on a delayed blitz.
There is an argument here that Barron's hit was legal -- on the Fox Sports broadcast, Kevin Burkhardt was clearly surprised there wasn't a flag thrown but also reported former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira said the hit was legal. (Worth noting: Last week Pereira criticized Newton for having a "consistency of whining" throughout his career.)
However, it sure looks like Barron's facemask makes contact with Newton's helmet. Or, as Louis Riddick said on SportsCenter on Monday, Barron's facemask gets right in Cam's "earhole."
It sure looked like he got a piece of Newton's head. Given the circumstances, it was surprising not to see a flag, although theoretically the facemask contact could have been considered incidental. That would be pretty surprising given the forearm flex factor at play here.
Again: The Barron play above is definitely borderline but this wasn't a "heads up" tackle situation where he brought perfect form.
The other call that was missed came on a later Aaron Donald sack of Newton. Donald is a ridiculous talent and one of the best defensive linemen in football. His speed off the line and his physical ability to come flying into the pocket make him elite.
Donald came flying in with both arms raised and proceeded to make contact with Newton's helmet.
It's a huge hit and an impressive feat of athleticism by one of the best defensive players in the league. But it also should be a 15-yard penalty, given the state of the rules.
Newton said after the game that he's "not worried" about how the officials handled the game. However Monday, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said he planned to submit one hit.
"It's tough," Rivera said. "It's tough for them to judge things as they happen at full speed and from the angles all that kind of stuff. But there was one of concern, and we'll send it and see what the league has to say and we'll go from there.
"Other than that I thought they handled it very well. ... So just one of concern, and we'll talk about if they agree or disagree. But for the most part that's just the nature of the game."
The guess here is the play submitted was the hit by Donald, but I've had two different groups of football-watching people say different things about the hit that should have been flagged.
Regardless of which one the Panthers sent in, the bottom line is this: If Tom Brady or Drew Brees is hit the way Newton was hit in these two instances, there are likely flags everywhere.
Cam gives the Panthers a massive advantage because of his physical skills, but he also presents defenses a huge advantage in terms of pushing the line on being physical.
