Minnesota Vikings fall victim to the worst rule in the NFL one week after benefitting from the same call

The Minnesota Vikings were on the wrong end of a roughing the passer call in Week 10.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Oct 19, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) is tackled by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Dallas Turner (15) during the second half at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings went into halftime with a 10-9 lead, but a call from the referees made it much easier at the end of the first half.

With the Baltimore Ravens driving to get points with less than 15 seconds remaining, edge rushers Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkel ran a stunt, and it ended with the former getting a sack on quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple, as the referees got involved.

Dallas Turner called for roughing the passer due to ridiculous rule

On the sack, it looked like a standard tackle for Turner. He had great form and brought the quarterback down to the ground. Unfortunately, it was a penalty.

The rule was based on body weight. Essentially, Turner landed on Jackson with his entire body weight instead of rolling to either side of the quarterback. Here is what the NFL rulebook says on the matter.

“A rushing defender is prohibited from committing such intimidating and punishing acts as “stuffing” a passer into the ground or unnecessarily wrestling or driving him down after the passer has thrown the ball, even if the rusher makes his initial contact with the passer within the one-step limitation provided for in (a) above. When tackling a passer who is in a defenseless posture (e.g., during or just after throwing a pass), a defensive player must not unnecessarily or violently throw him down or land on top of him with all or most of the defender’s weight. Instead, the defensive player must strive to fall to the side of the quarterback’s body, or to brace his fall with his arms to avoid landing on the quarterback with all or most of his body weight.”

The rule is written so defenders don’t spear the quarterback into the ground. That’s not what this was. It was a simple tackle, and that’s where the NFL needs to make a change. The rule needs an adjustment.

This is a simple NFL tackle without any malicious intent behind it. There is too much up to interpretation for the refs. Something needs to be done because that should not have been a penalty. The Vikings benefited last week against the Detroit Lions due to this rule.

Until something changes, this will continue to happen, and it’s detrimental to everyone.

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