NFL to discuss roughing the passer penalties in wake of controversial Week 5 calls

The NFL is reportedly slated to discuss roughing the passer penalties after a pair of notable calls during the Atlanta Falcons-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on Sunday and the Kansas City Chiefs-Las Vegas Raiders tilt on "Monday Night Football" in Week 5.

The play in question from the Bucs-Falcons game came when Atlanta defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was called for a penalty after seemingly sacking Tom Brady on a third-and-five late in the fourth quarter as Atlanta trailed 21-15. Instead, Tampa Bay was awarded the first down and never gave the ball back to their opponents.

On Monday night, Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones looked to have a strip sack of Raiders quarterback Derek Carr in the first half in Las Vegas territory, but another roughing the passer penalty was issued. The crowd erupted in boos, but Kansas City ended up with the dramatic 30-29 victory after storming back from a 17-0 first half deficit.

The ESPN report said that conversations regarding roughing the passer penalties were "internal" and "changes to the rule are not expected during the season."

"NFL owners will meet in New York next week. The league's Competition Committee -- composed of six team owners/executives and four head coaches -- makes most of the recommendations for rule changes. Teams can also propose rule changes to be voted on by owners, which require 24 votes to pass," the report read. "Protecting quarterbacks is a priority for owners, who pay big bucks for the faces of their franchises. Twenty-five QBs are making at least $25 million this season."

One idea suggested by Jones following the Monday night game was to allow video review of roughing calls.

"Another committee member, who wished to remain anonymous, acknowledged to (ESPN's Ed) Werder that review would be helpful on roughing calls but wasn't sure if the league would be interested in using the review process on personal fouls. The NFL experimented with using review on pass interference calls during the 2019 season but scrapped the initiative after one season," the report said.