Minkah Fitzpatrick, Steelers Baffled by Roughing the Passer Call

LAS VEGAS — Steelers star free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick got charged with a questionable roughing the passer penalty that led directly to a touchdown for the Raiders. Fitzpatrick came on a free blitz on the play and hit Garoppolo up high. On the play, it appeared that Fitzpatrick may have hit him shoulder to shoulder more than on the head. However, the referees still called the penalty on Fitzpatrick.

By the rule we all love to hate, this is roughing the passer…but what exactly is Leonard Williams supposed to do here?

Such a ridiculously written rule that’s always unevenly applied pic.twitter.com/YTn89dhuvJ

— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) September 22, 2023

The play caught lots of controversy, but the idea remained simple for Minkah Fitzpatrick — he did nothing wrong. The explanation that Fitzpatrick received from the refs was even more perplexing. Fitzpatrick had a simple one-word response when asked if he thought it was a penalty.

“No.”

When pushed for an explanation of what the refs told him, Fitzpatrick said it was about how he ducked his head into Garappolo when Garappolo braced for contact and lowered his head, thus initiating contact of a helmet-to-helmet hit.

“They said he ducked,” Fitzpatrick said. “They said I hit him in his head and he ducked. That’s what they told me.”

Rules analyst Terry McAulay disagreed with the call, saying there was no forcible contact to the head or neck area of Garoppolo that would give the refs the discretion to call the penalty. According to NFL Ref Stats on X, Tra Blake’s crew leads the NFL in roughing-the-passer penalties this year. So, the call is notable coming from this crew, as it appears to be a typical pattern with this crew.

That seems to point to the penalty itself not being a blatant infraction. Even T.J. Watt noted that he had ‘no idea’ what to say to the question about the penalty. They seemed miffed about it, and questions will be asked in the coming week on what to do in that situation so it does not happen again.