Atlanta Falcons: Ref Jerome Boger has comical explanation for awful call

It is pretty safe to say that Atlanta Falcons fans, and the rest of the NFL for that matter, are up in arms about the horrendous roughing the passer penalty against Grady Jarrett in week five, all thanks to Jerome Boger.

The penalty came at the most crucial spot in the entire game. It came during a time when the Falcons’ defense made another clutch stop that would allow the offense to go win the game and take sole possession of the NFC South.

There is nothing else that can be said about the invisible penalty, it was a terrible look for the NFL. And now we have to listen to the perpetrator of throwing the yellow flag make his lame excuses.

Atlanta Falcons get a terrible explanation from referee Jerome Boger over costly penalty

The Atlanta Falcons have shocked people this year and they were in a prime position to truly shock everyone by reversing the script on Tom Brady to snatch the top spot in the division.

Instead, veteran referee Jerome Boger had other ideas as apparently, he would not stand for the possibility of Tom Brady having a losing record early in the season.

You have likely seen it by now but he threw a terrible flag following a Grady Jarrett sack that would have given the Falcons’ offense a chance to go win the game. Grady made a textbook tackle on Brady, a tackle that is worthy of being the primary video example for football coaches around the country on how to tackle, and somehow Boger found that it was worthy of being a ‘roughing the passer’ penalty.

Refs make mistakes in all sports, but this one feels like more than a mistake, and one that Boger should admit was a mistake, but instead, he is trying to make excuses for his actions.

He said the following about why he threw the flag on Grady:

"What I had was a defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket, and unnecessarily throwing him to the ground. That is what I was making my decision based upon."

That is hilarious, comical, ridiculous — any other word you want to use — explanation for what people are calling “the worst roughing the passer penalty in NFL history.”

In case you need another look at the clean sack that Grady had on Brady:

I am honestly at a loss for words as to what to say next. That response by Boger is sad, I’ll just leave it there.

I am not here to attack Jerome Boger as a person, I am sure that he is a great person, but if any other person made a mistake of this magnitude in any job — outside of MLB umps — they would be fired instantly. Instead, the NFL will almost undoubtedly protect him and send him out on the field next week.

Next time, do better Jerome Boger. Try not to cost another team a game.