Through the first three weeks of the NFL season, the biggest controversy is easily the amount of "roughing the passer" penalties, officials have been calling, and it's drawing the ire of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

The Steelers played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night, and Tomlin's crew was victorious 30-27. The entertaining offensive shootout was widely overshadowed by the four questionable roughing the passer calls, however.

And with a large quantity of yellow flags being thrown around the field, Tomlin is worried that the fun is being taken out of the game, and that the NFL will see a decline in popularity if this keeps up.

"The penalties were a significant element of the game. Penalties were called in a similar fashion on both sides and from that perspective it was fair," Tomlin said, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Focus.

"I don’t worry a lot about how the game is being officiated...But as somebody who appreciates the game and understands we’re in the sports entertainment business, it is worrisome from the fan perspective. I do worry about what it’s like to watch that game at home with penalties being administered at the rate that they were."

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Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

The new roughing the passer rule was implemented in order to prevent defensive players from putting their weight on quarterbacks during hits. Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers has already picked up three of these penalties, and he's been highly critical of the new rule thus far, as has San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman.

According to NFLPenalties.com, there have already been 822 flags thrown through the first three weeks. The Steelers have negative-118 net yards yards in penalties, while the Jacksonville Jaguars are a woeful negative-167, worst in the NFL.

Of course, the NFL is always surrounded with officiating controversies and questionable penalty calls. It's simply part of the game, and the league is just trying to avoid serious injuries to its key players.

Remember, not all of these penalties are roughing the passer personal fouls. Teams like the Steelers and Jaguars are aggressive and physical on defense, which leads to a plethora of defensive pass interference and holding penalties. It's up to the defenders to be more disciplined if they want to avoid being penalized.

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