Carl Granderson was called for the worst roughing the passing call I've seen in recent memory, and the New Orleans Saints are lucky it didn't prove more costly than it was. Granderson quickly brought down Jaxson Dart in what looked like a perfect hit to everybody other than the refs.
Protecting the quarterback is one thing, but if defenders aren’t allowed to do that, it’s time to bring the red non-contact jerseys from practice to live action games. There's already a lot of conversation on whether or not the league is overprotecting the quarterbacks. It's difficult to argue they aren't when you see plays like this called as a penalty.
The play came in the fourth quarter as the Giants were looking to mount a comeback. New York needed two touchdowns with less than two minutes on the clock. While it was a long shot, the flag turned that play from a clutch play by the Saints defense to a potential injection of life to the Giants offense.
Cameron Jordan and Kellen Moore were fuming after penalty on Carl Granderson
The play was simply teach tape from a pass rusher standpoint. There were no notes you could have given Granderson. He quickly shed the block and just ran through Dart. Granderson didn't dip his head on contact. He put his chest to Dart's back and wrapped his arms around the shoulders. As Dart went to the ground, Granderson let him go to not land with his weight on the quarterback.
Even in live speed, it's hard to see what the officials saw to call roughing the passer. It's a play that left Cameron Jordan and Kellen Moore upset. You could visibly see Moore frustrated on the sidelines after the play. After the game, Moore called the play frustrating because he has no answers to give Granderson. At some point in the week, Moore will certainly be asked if he heard any feedback from the league office.
Jordan didn't hold any words back postgame. He called the penalty erroneous, "ludicrous without explanation" and "egregious on all levels"
The puzzled edge rusher continue with a couple of questions. "As a defensive lineman, what else can we can do? As a defense, you're telling us that we can't do our jobs. So how do we do our jobs then? Please." They're valid questions and responses.
For Granderson, he was among the league leaders in sacks. He's still in a tie for seventh place, which is good, but that sack would have put him at second in the league with 5.5 sacks. It didn't result in the Giants gaining even a sliver of momentum, but it did take a valuable sack away from Granderson.