16. Roughing the Passer
The Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings met in a meaningless Week 16 game in 2021 with nothing but pride at stake. While their seasons were already over, the players proved that they still cared about the result. A game-changing occurred with the Vikings on fourth-down, in Lions’ territory. Tracy Walker sacked Kirk Cousins but the referees confused everybody by intervening.
This was flagged for roughing the passer. Horrendous. pic.twitter.com/c1tA7j89Ao
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) January 3, 2021
Football is and always will be a contact sport. However, Walker wasn’t excessive or late with his contact. In sum, it was a perfectly reasonable tackle. But the referees still cited him for roughing the passer. The lesser magnitude of this game means that it is not far down this list, but it still remains one of the most laughable officiating calls of recent times. No wonder the Lions were furious.