Even Mike Pereira hated the Eagles roughing the passer call on Justin Fields

The NFL has made clear that, when in doubt, its officials are always going to err on the side of protecting the league's quarterbacks. And that goes double after Trevor Lawrence had his season ended by a vicious, dirty late hit from Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. If you come anywhere close to blurring the line between a tackle and unnecessary roughness right now, you have to know that you're going to draw a flag.

But even given all that context, the flag that Philadelphia Eagles safety Reed Blankenship drew for "unecessary roughness" against Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields is downright outrageous. Protecting quarterbacks is one thing, but at this point the NFL's referees are leaving defenders no choice, and even company men like FOX analyst (and former NFL head of officiating) Mike Pereira are in open revolt.

Eagles called for outrageous roughing penalty against Steelers QB Justin Fields

The Steelers brought Fields in for a designed quarterback run in the second quarter. Fields was able to get to the second level, at which point he made the decision to slide and take a solid gain rather than try and fight for extra yardage. There was just one problem, though: Fields' slide came so late that it took him directly into the chest of Blankenship.

But despite Fields being the one who initiated the contact — Blankenship was stationary, waiting for Fields to arrive — it was somehow Blankenship who got hit with a 15-yard penalty.

Again, it's understandable for the league to have a vested interest in protecting its quarterbacks, and no one expects them to be policed in the same way as every other position on the field. But there was quite literally nothing that Blankenship could have done here; unless he abruptly started running away from Fields, he was always going to make contact. And that contact was hardly rough, as Blankenship hit Fields in the chest with a form tackle.

To make matters even worse, the Steelers used that extra yardage to march down the field and score their first touchdown of the game. If Pittsburgh rallies to win in Philadelphia, you can bet fans and media alike will be pointing to this play as a potential turning point — and a rallying cry to get the NFL to reconsider the leeway it gives quarterbacks on the run.