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Much like many on the internet, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel also expressed disbelief at a controversial roughing the passer call in his team’s 23-17 loss to the Chargers on “Sunday Night Football.”

During the second half of the game, in which the Chargers led 17-7 at halftime, Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips sacked quarterback Justin Herbert on a third down. The officials called a penalty on Phillips’ tackle, giving the Chargers a fresh set of downs as a result.

Moments later, cameras panned to McDaniel, who couldn’t help but laugh at the ruling, which was deemed everything from “absurd” to “awful.”

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Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips tackles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on Dec. 11, 2022.
Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips tackles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on Dec. 11, 2022.Twitter/Sunday Night Football
Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips tackles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on Dec. 11, 2022.
Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips tackles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on Dec. 11, 2022.Twitter/Sunday Night Football
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“Absurd roughing the passer call. Absurd,” Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt tweeted.

Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe wasn’t a fan of the call, either.

“That’s a HORSE 💩 call. Just AWFUL,” Sharpe seethed, while Pat McAfee remarked, “Man… football does look different these days doesn’t it.”

Sunday’s questionable call is the latest in what’s become a season filled with quizzical penalties. Back in October, two calls drew the ire of the NFL community within days of each other, beginning with a Week 5 matchup between the Buccaneers and Falcons.

When Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett dropped Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady for what could have been a 10-yard loss, the former was flagged, with referee Jerome Boger alleging Jarrett “unnecessarily” tossed Brady to the ground.

Hours after the Buccaneers’ controversial win, Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones was penalized during an AFC West showdown against the Raiders when he came from behind to tackle quarterback Derek Carr and force a fumble. The play could have given the Chiefs a favorable field position, but the Raiders maintained possession instead.

The NFL may have tweaked the roughing the passer rule ahead of the 2022 season, in which a defender must not “land on top of him [a passer] with all or most of the defender’s weight,” but after this year’s onslaught of controversial penalties, the brain trust may have to go back to the drawing board.

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