Awful roughing the passer call for C.J. Stroud is as bad as the Dexter Lawrence penalty

Here we go again. As excited as everyone is for the return of NFL action, we can't forget that the guys in stripes are probably going to drive up your blood pressure consistently once again this fall and winter. There's no denying that some terrible calls were made by the refs last year, and more of the same has arrived:

On Thursday night, the Houston Texans and New England Patriots are facing off to get the first full week of preseason action going. Already, fans are furious on social media thanks to this roughing the passer penalty called for a soft hit on rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. Is this a joke?

C.J. Stroud getting gifted a roughing the passer flag is already going viral

The No Fun League is back! This wouldn't even be considered a rough play in a game of two-hand touch. Clearly the officials saw something different and decided to protect Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and hand the Texans a free 15 yards.

For a lot of NY Giants supporters, there's no question that this play brings back the terrible memories from the Wild Card Round win over the Vikings. In that contest, Dexter Lawrence was flagged for a 'late hit' on Kirk Cousins, but it was Charmin Ultra soft.

Brian Daboll blew a gasket as soon as he saw the laundry hit the turf. Thankfully, the Giants were able to come out on top with a thrilling win, with Lawrence putting extra pressure on Cousins on the final Minnesota prayer to keep the game going:

As for the Texans-Patriots game, this is a reminder that plenty of terrible calls from the refs will be on the way this season. Get yourself a stress ball if you haven't already - especially with Week 1 sneaking up on us.

READ MORE: 4 NY Giants youngsters to watch in Friday's game vs. Detroit