In the first few weeks of the season, there has been plenty of spotlight on the league's emphasis on protecting the quarterback, with referees making an abnormally large amount of calls for roughing the passer. Houston Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt tweeted about the calls during Monday night's game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he addressed the issue again on Wednesday.
According to John McClain of The Houston Chronicle, Watt has voiced that he wants the NFL to figure out the rule at some point in the near future this season.
There is evident emphasis from the NFL to call the penalty on any play that would appear to be close to the type of call that needs to be made. It has created a bit of fuzziness for the players to understand what exactly warrants a flag being thrown in order to avoid and minimize those situations from coming up. Instead, the league has continued to roll with calling anything that would look to be going over the top in tackling the quarterback.
This has been quite apparent with Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, as he has been called for roughing the passer in each of the first three weeks for three separate types of hits on opposing quarterbacks. It has blurred for him what would be deemed a legal hit on the quarterback that has led to much frustration about these judgment calls.
Ultimately, the noise is only growing louder around the league for more clarity on the definition of the rule that should see the NFL take action in clearing up this situation at some point this year.