Following yesterday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons fans were left stewing about a terrible roughing the passer call on Grady Jarrett.
But while fans and analysts were up in arms over the play, and Tom Brady didn’t want to discuss it, Falcons head coach Arthur Smith downplayed its significance during his press conference today.
“It’s like a lot of things in life, [you] control what you can control, and what we can control is how to get better,” Smith told reporters Monday. “We have a huge game Sunday here in Atlanta against the Niners, so that’s what our focus is now.”
Atlanta was down 21-15 with three minutes to play when Jarrett appeared to sack Brady on third down near midfield. However, referee Jerome Boger threw the flag, giving the Bucs a fresh set of downs.
Tampa Bay eventually ran out the clock to secure the victory.
“What I had was the defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket and unnecessarily throwing him to the ground,” Boger said via pool report postgame. “That is what I was making my decision based on.”
The loss dropped the Falcons to 2-3 on the season, while the Bucs moved to 3-2 and took over first place of the NFC South.