After some bad calls, gamblers can now wager on Roughing the Passer

Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season may be remembered for one thing, roughing the passer calls. Bad Ones. And it may be remembered as the week that changed the rules for the penalty.

For those NFL fans and bettors who were out of contact with our social media/NFL crazy fueled world, two egregiously bad calls on roughing the passer plays last week caused outrage. And not just by fans and bettors, by the players themselves. Well, not Tom Brady.

To recap, Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Grady Jarrett was penalized for "unnecessarily" throwing Bucs quarterback Tom Brady to the ground and Chiefs' defensive lineman Chris Jones got the flag for landing on Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr with his "full body weight". For 99% of us, neither of these looked liked a penalty and in the case of Jones, he not only sacked Carr, he ended up with the ball!

The outrage has grown so much so that the NFL has had to defend the actions of the referees and their own rules on roughing the passer. A spokesman from the league told to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, "There is no backing down on enforcing rules that are in place to protect the health and safety of players, including quarterbacks, who by rule are considered defenseless players when they are in a passing posture."

One thing that has surfaced is perhaps the need for this particular penalty to be reviewable. For many fans, making roughing the passer  a reviewable call would resolve the issue and most likely, both Jarrett and Jones would have been vindicated. For bettors, industry giant BetOnline has posted a prop bet for making the play reviewable. 

Will Roughing the Passer Calls be Reviewed 23-24 Season
No (-1000)
Yes (+550)

The sportsbook has gone even further with a handful of other props for roughing the passer with a total for roughing the passer penalties in Week 6 sett at 4.5 (-120). Bettors can also take a shot at which QB will get the first RTP penalty call in the Sunday 1 PM games. The big name veterans have the shortest odds.

1st Roughing Passer Penalty Week 6 (1pm Games only)

So what will Week 6 bring? Perhaps defensive players will ease up a bit or get gun shy about the potential for a penalty and there will be a bit more scoring. More likely, we will continue to see questionable roughing the passer calls to protect the game's biggest stars and highest paid players. But regardless, you can bet on it!