Some rough calls: Bears defenders have strong reactions to recent roughing-the-passer penalties

Over the course of an NFL game referees must make dozens of judgment calls.

Was that tug of the jersey enough to call holding? Was that illegal contact or just the receiver running into the cornerback? Was that a late hit? Unsportsmanlike conduct? Pass interference?

And, of course, perhaps toughest of all - how to determine if a hit warrants a roughing-the-passer penalty.

This last example is the one that gave the NFL a huge black eye last week as we saw:

• Tom Brady get the benefit of the doubt in the waning moments of the Bucs' victory over the Falcons.

• The Chiefs' Chris Jones get flagged for landing on Raiders QB Derek Carr.

• No flag on a play in which the Ravens' Lamar Jackson was ripped to the ground.

The Brady call was beyond ridiculous, with Atlanta's Grady Jarrett simply tackling the 45-year-old QB in the backfield on a third-and-5 with about three minutes remaining.

Yes, Brady's old. And the best of all time.

But c'mon. It's football. If that's roughing the passer maybe it's time to put tearaway flags on waists quarterbacks.

"They all kind of looked the same," said Bears defensive end Robert Quinn, who is in his 12th season and has 102 career sacks. "The one that wasn't called was against Lamar Jackson. Trying to figure out why. I can take it many different ways. ...

"I don't know why rules change depending on face, color, team. Rules are the rules for all quarterbacks. ... They're almost making it impossible to play defense nowadays. So do your best I guess."

On Jones' apparent sack of Carr on Monday night, the Chiefs' lineman actually stripped the ball and ended up with it. The flag came out anyway because of how Jones fell on Carr.

Boos cascaded onto the field from the Arrowhead Stadium faithful. A resounding "refs you (stink)" chant then broke out, and it was so loud that you could clearly hear it on the broadcast.

Bears linebacker Roquan Smith actually asked me which one I thought was most egregious. I went with Brady's.

Smith, though, said: "I think the Carr one was worse. ... Come on. I've never seen a guy with the ball in his hands (called) for roughing the passer. You know what I mean?"

See how crazy this is? Even the defenders are befuddled.

Years ago, defenders were only flagged if they took 1.5 or more steps after the ball was thrown.

Now, the QB is off limits in all kinds of circumstances.

He's sliding? PULL UP! (Or is he faking a slide?!)

Better land gently here!

Better not throw him TOO hard!

He's near the sideline ... peel away!

It's a wonder any QB gets sacked.

"It's slowing down defensive players," said Bears' defensive lineman Trevis Gipson. "It's really taking away the speed of our game. You're hesitant. You've got to watch how you fall. There's a lot of obstacles that really aren't typical in the game of football."

Teammate Dominique Robinson is wary not only of the flag but also of an almost certain fine. So he resorts to "leveling down" at times.

"You ain't taking no money from my pockets," Robinson said. "So I'm gonna do whatever it takes to not (have that happen). If it requires me leveling down a little bit on him, I'm gonna try my hardest to do that and try not to blow him up."

It was interesting that Quinn did not take this stance. He's coming at QBs full speed no matter what.

"If they throw a flag, well I guess they throw a flag," he said. "I'm not gonna slow down. ... We've got a job to do, so do it."

Quinn and Gipson both expressed frustration about how refs are rarely looking out for them. Once in a while we see an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when a guard goes low as a tackle blocks high.

Other than that, it's every man for himself.

"I look at it like this: When an O-lineman gets a chance to pancake us, they don't call it 'roughing the defender,'" Quinn said. "So what's the difference? Offensive driven league, you've got to know what you're dealing with (and) do your best.

"They want to see points, not shutouts."

Here's what we'd 'roughly' like to see: Whether the QB is old or young; a runner or a drop-back guy; a rookie or surefire a Hall of Famer - just be consistent and play no favorites.

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