Traina Thoughts: You Can Complain All You Want, but the NFL Is All In on New Roughing-the-Passer Rule

NFL says controversial Clay Matthews call was "text book" roughing the passer.

The Washington Post

1. The NFL had a fun and wild day Sunday thanks to a lot of upsets, but there's still a bad taste in everyone's mouth because of absurd roughing-the-passer penalties.

Packers linebacker Clay Matthews has become the poster boy for the new rule, getting flagged for the infraction yesterday for the third time in three games. Before this season Matthews had been called for four roughing-the-passer penalties in nine years.

Here's the thing, though: The NFL doesn't care about the outrage. Howie Long took the league to task on FOX's postgame show, saying the rule seems completely "subjective." Kurt Warner, a former QUARTERBACK, thinks the rule is a problem.

But the NFL made sure to quickly defend the rule—specifically the part about a defender coming down on a QB with his weight—and gave off the impression that it isn't going anywhere, despite pretty much everyone hating it.

This is a foul for roughing the passer - the defender lands “with all or most of the defender’s weight” on the passer. Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9(b): https://t.co/s9YKN8NLuT #GBvsWAS pic.twitter.com/ei2QZkvvzx

— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) September 23, 2018

As for Matthews, Twitter was helpful, providing him with suggestions on how to sack the QB going forward.

Seriously, Clay Matthews is gonna have to start sacking QBs like this. pic.twitter.com/smN79X3Yay

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 23, 2018

2. Other Week 3 NFL items:

• In totally unsurprising news, Bill Belichick has no use for high fiving kids.

• THIS is how you celebrate a touchdown.

• Seahawks safety Earl Thomas wanted to be a Cowboy, but Dallas wouldn't trade for him. After picking off Dak Prescott yesterday, Thomas took a bow in front of the Cowboys sideline. Of course, in the No Fun League, this drew a penalty.

• Bills cornerback Tre White mocked Kirk Cousins after Buffalo went into Minnesota and pulled off the most shocking upset of the season.

• I'm part of a weekly NFL gambling podcast, out each Friday here on SI.com. I'm only mentioning this because I went 3-0 in my Best Bets this past week, so subscribe here and then go against me the rest of the season.

3. While sports media Twitter was having a collective orgasm over Tiger Woods winning a tournment for the first time in five years yesterday, WFAN's Mike Francesa was having none of it.

4. Longtime White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson called his final game Sunday after 35 years in the booth. The man known for his "You can put it on the booooooard" home run call, was overwhelmed with emotion after calling the final out.

What a run for “Hawk” Harrelson #TipOfTheCap

(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/imwh3Z84H2

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) September 24, 2018

5. The boycotts need work.

Colin Kaepernick is Nike's $6 billion man: Company's stock has jumped since controversial ad's debut, adding billions to the company's market value https://t.co/xjQ9xf0CDw pic.twitter.com/PmUKqx9aSs

— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 21, 2018

pic.twitter.com/Y70IirTvYx

— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) September 24, 2018

6. The newest SI Media Podcast features two interviews. First up is Rolling Stone chief TV critic Alan Sepinwall, who talks about his upcoming book on The Sopranos, plus all things Sopranos, the state of broadcast TV, the three shows you should be watching right now, the worst show he's ever seen, his top 10 shows of all time, what daily life is like for a TV critic, Friday Night Lights, The OC, Beverly Hills 90210 and much more.

New York Post media columinst Andrew Marchand comes in at the 44-minute mark to talk about ESPN's Monday Night Football booth, NFL ratings, FS1's terrible lineup of shows, the glut of gambling shows, Michelle Beadle's departure from Get Up, Mike Francesa's new app and more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes.

7. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: In honor of Hawk Harrelson retiring, here's a great clip of him completely losing his mind during a game.

Traina Thoughts is the best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts right here. And make sure to listen to and subscribe to the SI Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina.

IN CLOSING: Who would've though before the season that Monday night's Steelers-Bucs game would be so intriguing?