It's a beautiful day here in Cincinnati. The sun is shining and the temperature and conditions tonight should be perfect for football.
© There were some big, vicious hits doled out during Sunday's games that will test the commissioner's office's crackdown on such blows.
The one I thought was OK was the hit on Indianapolis' Austin Collie.
The original blow came from his back side after he had caught the ball and made a football move.
That blow lowered his head and knocked him into the second defender.
The play was penalized, but should not have been. It was a legal hit.
It's unfortunate that Collie was injured, but it was a football play.
The play that isn't being talked about a whole lot was the Jets' Trevor Pryce taking out Detroit kicker Jason Hanson's knee.
The play was penalized, but the Jets gained a distinct competitive advantage from an illegal hit.
That's one where the penalty should be severe.
Nick Collins should get suspended. That hit basically defined what the league is trying to avoid.
ReplyDeletehow about, I believe it was Trent Cole who touched peyton manning's head with his hand - 15 yard penalty on third down that extended the drive and lead to a TD. Cole's action had no effect on the play whatsoever. one of the most ridiculous calls i've ever seen, up their with polamalu's no int against the colts in the divisional round. officials and goodell are getting out of hand, it's becoming more frustrating to watch.
ReplyDeleteLost in the discussion of hits and penalties is that receivers wear only the helmet and shoulder pads for protection. Gone are hip, thigh and knee pads. It's no wonder receivers tend to duck down when they're about to get hit. They want to take the blow on the part of themselves that are protected, the head and shoulders.
ReplyDeleteYou can take Trevor Pryce out of Baltimore, but you can't take the Baltimore out of Trevor Pryce.
ReplyDeleteNo suspension, but a $50,000 hit for Collins.
ReplyDeleteThe league must have agreed with my assessment of the Philly-Indy hit. No fine.
But therein lies the problem. A legal hit was a 15-yard penalty and negated an Indianapolis turnover.
The officials likely flagged the hit because the receiver didn't get up.
If I'm a coach, I tell any receiver who takes a big shot to stay down because now officials are flagging big hits - legal or not - because they don't want to be called into the office.
There's also, I forget the game (jets indy maybe?), where the kicker completely feigned getting hit and got a flag thrown. It ended up still being 4th and 1, but that kind of crap is not helping the kickers cause.
ReplyDeleteUnless we are looking to watch futbol.
go figure, gay and macfadden get picked apart again. are lewis and burnett really that bad?
ReplyDeletehampton's penalty was a joke.
mendy ran great, wish they ran him more. why does it seem they go long stretches without running, then run 7 plays in a row?
this defense can be had by the pass. no doubt about it. and they couldn't get much pressure without bringing big blitzes.
i hope kiesel is ok for next week.
Teams pass because they can't run. What's the difference if all the offense all comes off the pass, all comes off the run or is a good split between both?
ReplyDeleteThe offense is what it is with BR at qb. He makes good plays, but usually offsets that with bonehead plays like refusing to throw the ball away and the ill-advised pass resulting in picks.
The biggest mistake was that 13 second possession after a poor Cincy punt that gave the Steelers the ball around midfield.
Three running plays would have run at least 2 minutes off the clock.
Have to give the OL props for finishing with both Starks and Kemo out and doing a pretty good job. Tomlin is going to have start dressing 8 OL.
adamg,
ReplyDeletefirst, i completely agree with you regarding that posession and gets back to one of arian's biggest faults. his situational play calling is horrible. on the flip side, that little swing pass out to mendy at the beginning of the game was a real nice play.
second, the fact teams will all but abandon the run makes it even more important they find someone better than gay or macfadden. they stink. gay looked like a college kid against T.O. and the rookie shipley schooled him several times. macfadden might be a little better because he is a better tackler, but that's it.
Legursky needed to make that block. Didn't need to be amazing or punishing, but he needed to engage the safety. He does that and this on is over. Either we get to burn 2 more minutes off the clock and have a shorter kick for Reed, or we continue to drive to the EZ. Either way, less time for Cincy and a two possession game if he makes that block.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ben is beyond the point of being rusty, he needs to make better decisions with the football. That wounded duck he threw to Miller should have been at least a throw away.
The penalty on Hampton was ridiculous.
Cincy did get a lucky bounce on the last drive. Palmer gets hit, throws up a duck, Farrior gets a hand on it and just tips it toward Benson, who catches it for the first down on 3rd and 14.
ReplyDeleteAgree that BR needs to make better decisions with the football, but I honestly don't think he ever will.
The flag on Hampton was ridiculous, but with Goodell in the audience, I guess the refs weren't taking any chances on not calling something.