The NFL is going all the way in backing up a horrific roughing the passer penalty that was called on Tennessee Titans linebacker, Kamalei Correa.
Tennessee Titans linebacker Kamalei Correa was one of the victims of one of the worst officiated games in NFL history during the Week 3 Thursday Night Football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The field was littered with laundry all night, and most of it was a result of terrible calls by referees. The game had gotten so affected by poor officiating, that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady tweeted that he had to turn it off.
Thankfully, the NFL got right to action days later and eased up on their offensive holding policy, which of course was too little too late for the Titans.
One of the bad calls by referees in the game involved a roughing the passer penalty called on Titans linebacker Kamalei Correa when he hit Jaguars quarterback, Gardner Minshew.
At the time, nobody in their right mind thought it looked like a penalty, but that didn’t stop the NFL from defending the call the next day.
“In #TENvsJAX, there was helmet contact to Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew’s chin, therefore roughing the passer was called.” - AL pic.twitter.com/u70IpR5Viw
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) September 20, 2019
To take it a step further in defending the indefensible, the NFL has now fined Correa for what was nothing more than a clean hit.
#Titans LB Kamalei Correa was fined $21,056 for a hit on #Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew. The league’s officiating department said Correa’s helmet made contact with Minshew’s chin.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 28, 2019
Not that it needs to be said, but the NFL borders on incompetent when it comes to calling penalties AND disciplining players. We’ve seen it time and time again.
A perfect example was when officials flagged Atlanta Falcons safety Keanu Neal for taking off his helmet on the field in frustration after he tore his achilles.
Clearly the NFL had to follow through on its bogus call against Correa with a fine, otherwise the league would have looked hypocritical. While the league might have avoided that, it did end up making itself look dumb.