Buzz Patterson wants the NFL to fix roughing the passer. The former U.S. Air Force pilot said so early Monday, hours after a roughing call on Green Bay Packers defensive end Lukas Van Ness wiped out an interception in Green Bay's 23-13 "Sunday Night Football" win over the Dallas Cowboys.
The Packers led 23-7 in the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field when Carrington Valentine jumped the route intended for Jonathan Mingo and intercepted Dak Prescott. But a roughing-the-passer flag on Van Ness against Prescott wiped out the pick, and Dallas kept possession.
Valentine's pick would have been Green Bay's third of the night, after Evan Williams and rookie Brandon Cisse intercepted Prescott in the second quarter. Valentine had come on for Cisse, who left in the second half with a shoulder stinger.
"'Roughing the passer' doesn't even make sense anymore. Fix this [NFL]! Ridiculous," he wrote.
One fan tied the post to Sunday night and to another Packers flag. "How was Van Ness gonna stop? Ridiculous call just like the taunting on Golden," the fan wrote.
That taunting flag came on Green Bay's opening drive, when Matthew Golden beat DaRon Bland down the sideline for a 37-yard catch and was penalized afterward, leaving the ball at the Dallas 24. Golden capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown catch from Jordan Love and finished with six catches for 104 yards.
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Another fan argued the problem runs deeper than one call. "It is so arbitrary. I don't see any clear rules for how to assess roughing. Hits that are essentially simultaneous to release of the ball — and showing replays in slow motion distorts what has happened — should never constitute a penalty."
Replays showed Van Ness pushing Prescott with two hands after the release, though the push didn't appear to carry any real force, even if it knocked the Cowboys quarterback off his feet.
Another fan argued the league has gone too far protecting quarterbacks. "Roughing would be driving him into the ground and breaking his ribs. Getting close to the National Flag Football League."
Another fan took that argument a step further. "Soon sacking the QB will be targeting."
Another fan, despite hating replay reviews, wants flags like this one looked at, calling them "game-changing plays."
And another fan has tuned out altogether, writing "I haven't watched in years" and saying a move to Arizona gave them other things to do in the fall and winter.
Dallas still didn't cash in. Karl Brooks was flagged for roughing Prescott later on the same series before Van Ness sacked Prescott for a 3-yard loss. Prescott then threw his fourth-and-11 pass out of the back of the end zone, and the 14-play, 57-yard drive ended on downs.
Van Ness finished with three tackles, the sack and a quarterback hit. He has 3.5 sacks through Week 6, tied for 10th in the NFL, along with nine quarterback hits.
Green Bay came after Prescott by design. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon leaned on blitzes and pressure calls, especially on third down, and head coach Matt LaFleur said afterward that staying aggressive was what the team had talked about and practiced.
The Packers led 17-0 at halftime and held the Cowboys to seven points through the first 59-plus minutes, until Ryan Flournoy caught a 6-yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds left. Prescott finished 34-of-54 for 258 yards with two interceptions.
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Referee Craig Wrolstad's crew threw 11 flags on each team, costing Green Bay 96 yards and Dallas 108. Five of the Packers' penalties were personal fouls, two for taunting and three for roughing the passer.
LaFleur's postgame message on the flags left no room for excuses. "Whether we feel it was justified or not, it doesn't matter. You've got to control your emotions to the best of your ability."
Packers.com's recap made the same point, writing that "some of the flags appeared to be questionable at best, but regardless, the emphasis isn't going away."
The win was Green Bay's third straight and lifted the Packers to 4-2, tied with the Chicago Bears for second in the NFC North behind the undefeated Minnesota Vikings. The Cowboys fell to 2-4. Green Bay visits the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, Oct. 25.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
