© Kyle Terada | 2020 Sep 13
It’s hard enough to contain Kyler Murray when he’s scrambling around. Even harder when the calls don’t go your way.
Twice the 49ers were dinged on crucial personal foul penalties for tackling a sliding Murry, including one on an 8-yard run on a second-and-21 play, that extended the drive in which the Cardinals took at 17-13 lead.
The calls were especially frustrating for the 49ers, who appeared to make minimal contact on late slides. Former Vice President of Officiating Mike Pereira agreed with that assessment when he joined Papa & Lund on Monday, saying both calls were soft.
“If you watch Kyler Murry play, one of the things he does really well is slide early,” Pereira said on KNBR. “In the instances when he slides late, there’s going to be a certain leeway for the defensive player, especially if he’s already committed. They put in the new rule last year that if you dive headfirst it’s basically the same thing and you’re protected that way. I never did agree with that rule, because now you’re making it even tougher on the defender who goes after a player who hasn’t been touched.
“I really didn’t like either one of those calls, because I felt both slides were a little late and there was not the use of a shoulder or a forearm or a helmet. We’re in this world where if you look at the stats last year, the roughing the passer calls that were made were an all time record in the league. I just think we go a little bit too far and some adjustments are going to have to be made, because you’ve got more and more Kyler Murray-type players that are in the league, and you’re going to get this running.
“When it comes to the slide, if you want to slide do it early like Kyler does often, but in the situations where he slides a bit late and tries to get that extra yard, then I think you have to give the defense a little bit of leeway unless they punish him on the ground.
“To the letter of the rule I’d say it’s a foul, to the letter of the intent of the rule I really don’t think either one of those were.”
Listen to the full interview below.