NFL's most debated Week 3 call has people wondering how to defy gravity when hitting Patrick Mahomes
The Dolphins today are going to dissect the fact they thought edge rusher Chop Robinson hurried Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to throw the football out of the end zone for a big fourth-quarter stop.The ball fell harmlessly incomplete.PATRICK MAHOMES ANSWERS TROUBLING QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS SERIOUS KNEE INJURY ON FIRST DRIVE OF THE CHIEFS SEASONThe way Mahomes fell was much more harmful in the view of the officials, who promptly called Robinson for roughing the passer.And why did Robinson get called for the controversial penalty? Because he landed on Mahomes without somehow sufficiently showing that he was trying to avoid stuffing the great quarterback into the Hard Rock Stadium grass.Remember that word – stuffing – because, believe it or not, it's an actual NFL rulebook standard for calling roughing the passer.(But first, full transparency: This penalty didn't change the outcome of the game.It didn't really affect the Chiefs at all because there was another Dolphins penalty on the play that would have extended the possession anyway.)Miami Dolphins defensive end Chop Robinson reacts after hitting Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Sept.
27, 2026.(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)But this penalty speaks to what lengths the NFL is going to protect its quarterbacks., how much latitude flawed officials get in making a call, and to what degree defenders are supposed go to avoid hurting QBs.That degree perhaps includes floating in air.
Maybe levitating for a beat or two.Or simply defying gravity.Robinson didn't do any of those.He hit Mahomes and the quarterback went down."No, he got me," Mahomes said afterward.
"He got me for sure pretty good.But that’s part of playing football."Part of playing football is requiring pass rushers to somehow tackle the quarterback but "not unnecessarily or violently throw him down or land on top of him with all or most of the [defende...