On Thursday, the superstar Packers pass rusher took aim at the league’s officials, claiming they are “one-sided” in favor of the offense. The source of Parsons’ frustration stems from his relatively low 2.5 sack total through five games, a number that he believes reflects the league’s desire to protect quarterbacks and encourage scoring.
“It’s just one of them things,” Parsons said after Thursday’s practice. “Five years of not getting a call, you eventually stop worrying about it. I think I just got to keep going. That’s the hunt, yeah. That’s part of the challenge, you just got to keep going. And that’s bothersome. That worries them. They know that. That’s the part of being one of the best. That comes with some territory, parts that you hate, and the parts that the league lets go.
“You can tell how they call the games. They don’t call off-sides for offense, but they’ll call it on defense. They won’t call offensive pass interference, but they’ll call defensive pass interference immediately.
“We know what they’re trying to do. They want to load the points up so fans can be happy. They’ll call defensive holding, but they won’t call offensive holding. Let’s just wake up. It’s just one of those things that we know what the higher-ups is trying to do. The ref would say, ‘I know that’s a hold,’ but what, you’re not going to call it? Come on. It’s just one of those things that I’m over, and I’m just going to have to keep going, push through it.”
Parsons acknowledges that he’s not going to get the calls and tries to maintain his focus on the game, but admits that it can be hard.
“I don’t say anything before because it’s all about just staying focused,” Parsons said. “I don’t want to start the game off like, ‘Hey, am I going to get a hold today?’ But, sometimes, I’m just like, ‘All right, whatever.’ But sometimes, like, some egregious ones I do think should be called.
“A man pulled me to the ground. I feel like those types of things, in those situations, need to be called. They won’t hesitate to call me for a neutral zone infraction or call me offside. You see the same things I’m seeing. It’s just one of those things.”
Parsons said he believes drawing two or three penalties a game is a “realistic” number for him. However, he thinks this gets to the real issue at hand.
“The ones that are close, that’s like whatever, that’s football. It’s combative. I get it,” he said. “But the egregious ones need to be called. That’s how guys get hurt, man. We put so much emphasis on protecting the offense. Protect the defense.
“A guy could be trying to catch the ball, and you make a defensive play so he doesn’t catch it, and it’s targeting. It’s a flag. But a defensive end can be rushing and engaged with another player, and the guy can come blow his ribs out, and we’re not considered defenseless. But, like we said, it’s an offensive league. I think a lot of rules are bullsh*t.”
To Parsons’ point, last week in Green Bay’s game against Cincinnati, Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. either false-started or held well over a dozen times. Had that game been officiated correctly, Parsons would have drawn around 20 penalties. But of course, the officials are not going to throw 20 flags on a single player. That would make the game unwatchable.
Fine.
But the league needs to find a better balance between keeping the pace of the game going and accurately making calls. And, as Parsons says, regardless of how many flags are thrown, the officiating is obviously skewed towards offense, and there needs to be balance there as well. We understand the league wants more offense and is officiating the games that way, but it shouldn’t be this obvious.
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