Micah Parsons was like many other observers of his Green Bay Packers' loss to the Detroit Lions – watching from home and complaining about the officiating.
The Packers suffered a particularly consequential roughing the passer call late in the fourth quarter, which helped set up the game-winning field goal as time expired in the Lions' 20-17 victory. It was also the subject of Parsons' online ire.
Writing on X and directing his complaint at the official accounts of the NFL and the league's officiating department, Parsons posted: "let’s just go to flag football if everytime (sic) a (quarterback) gets touched it’s roughing the passer!"
Lions quarterback Jared Goff connected with tight end Sam LaPorta to convert a second-and-8 late in the fourth quarter with an 18-yard
pickup. Karl Brooks provided the pressure and put Goff on the ground with what appeared to be a legal hit.
Except the yellow laundry hit the field and Brooks was called for the roughing the passer penalty that added 15 yards to the end of the play.
"I don't even want to comment on any of the penalties," Packers coach Matt LaFleur told reporters when asked about the calls. "... I thought there were some tough calls, but it is what it is."
Packers safety Xavier McKinney took a more pointed approach in his post-game comments.
"I see what's going on. It is what it is. They're going to fine you for anything at this point in this league," McKinney said. "So that's what I know. So I would rather get fined and try to help my team out because I see what's going on and I see that it's killing us. It's killing us. We all see it. We all see what's going on. Everybody sees what's going on. The fans see what's going on. We see when we're out there. I'm looking at the plays like, 'Hold up, why are they calling this? It don't even make any sense.'
"And then the fact that you're not reviewing what you're calling ... I'm asking the other refs, and they're like 'Oh, I'm not over there.' There's just a lot of (expletive) that doesn't make sense right now. But at the end of the day, we still got to find ways to try to go and win these games. It makes it a little bit harder when the officiating is that way, if I'm being honest."
Tom Brady agrees with Micah Parsons: 'Oh my goodness'
Calling the game for FOX alongside Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady could hardly believe the call.
"No, my goodness," he said. "What is that? There's no way.… That's definitely not roughing the passer."
FOX rules analyst Dean Blandino categorized the play as "teach-tape tackle."
"That's not roughing the passer," Blandino added.
Take a look:
Tom Brady: "No, my goodness. What is that?! There's no way!... That's definitely not roughing the passer!"
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 25, 2026
Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino: "That's teach-tape tackle. That's not roughing the passer." 🏈🦓🎙️pic.twitter.com/dsJki3xW8Y https://t.co/KGuLgB2lrd
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Micah Parsons calls out NFL over roughing the passer call criticized by Tom Brady
