Chris Jones’ roughing passer flag is defended by the referee

DSINFL Player

Chris Jones, a defensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs, became the second NFL player in as many days to have a sack overturned due to a contentious roughing-the-passer decision. In the second quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 30-29 victory on Monday night, Jones strip-sacked Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and received a penalty on the same play. Jones sacked Carr on a third-and-8 play from the Las Vegas 46-yard line, slapping the ball away with his right hand to regain possession. Jones, however, landed on Carr with all of his weight and was penalized for roughing the quarterback by referee Carl Cheffers, nullifying his sack and forced fumble recovery. Cheffers stated, “The quarterback is in the pocket and he’s in a passing stance. “He receives full protection from every angle that the quarterback is given when in a passing position. Therefore, I determined that the defender fell on him when he was attacked with all of his body weight. The quarterback is shielded from full-body weight tackles. For that reason, I decided that it constituted roughing the passer.”