49ers' Nick Bosa: Questionable roughing the passer flag that wiped out pick-six 'the right call'
Another week, another questionable roughing the passer call. If there’s a day ending in “Y,” you know you’re going to see one. This time, the victim was pass-rusher Nick Bosa and the San Francisco 49ers.
With 12:52 left in the third quarter of the 49ers’ "Thursday Night Football" game against the Seattle Seahawks, and San Francisco already with a 21-3 lead, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir picked off a Geno Smith pass attempt to Tyler Locket, and ran it back 37 yards to the house.
Sadly, it was all for naught, as referee Alex Kemp called Bosa for roughing the passer for this hit on Smith.
Bosa took his hands off of Smith before both players hit the ground, but he failed to defy gravity, so there was the flag.
Though many on social media objected to the call, Bosa had no issue with it.
"It was the right call with what they've been calling lately," Bosa said on the field after the game. "I kinda lost my head there, and unfortunately hurt my team."
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Seven plays later, on the same drive, Bosa sacked Smith and managed to sort of bunny-hop his way off of Smith in time to avoid another flag. It put him back into sole possession of the NFL lead with 15.5 sacks, matching his career high set last year.
Contributing: Jace Evans