The most talked about play from yesterday was the terrifying play in the Eagles/Colts game that ended with Austin Collie getting carted off the field after lying motionless on the ground for what seemed like forever. The play has stirred some controversy in the last 24 hours and will probably result in a fine for Eagles safety Kurt Coleman. But is a fine warranted? Was the 15-yard Unnecessary Roughness penalty warranted? Is the league so scared that they flag anything that looks remotely violent? Yes and that is what's killing the National Football League right now. Video after the jump.
Over the last couple weeks there have been punishing hits all over the NFL that have resulted in fines for players such as James Harrison and Ernie Sims and have laid out explosive players such as Josh Cribbs and DeSean Jackson. Some warranted, some not. The league is trying to crack down on player safety, which is a good thing. At the end of the day, after guys have been scratching and clawing at each other, everyone should be able to walk off the field. But this is a violent game and it doesn't always work out that way. What the NFL needs to figure out is what is the best way to protect its players without turning the league into a Flag Football league.
The protection of the quarterbacks is the first issue. The quarterbacks are the marquee players in the league whether other position players want to recognize it or not. They win games, so it's only natural to protect your most expensive and valuable asset. We saw in the past when Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb and other quarterbacks are lost for the season and the negative impact it can have on teams. But we have to look at these hits on a case by case basis. We see it often with Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Defense. They swarm to the quarterback and drive him to the ground, usually while he's in his throwing motion, mostly never warranting a penalty flag. But yet they usually accrue them due to the tenacity of the hits, although they are legal. There is no helmet to helmet, just crushing, legal blows. However, there are hits, such as the hits on Tom Brady and Carson Palmer in the past, that have torn ACLs that warrant flags and further penalties. But we can't just flag for contact. The referees have to look at the plays carefully before just throwing that yellow flag out.
Case in point, yesterday 4th & 18 with the game on the line and the Eagles force and incompletion of Peyton Manning effectively ending the game. Then there's a flag. Unnecessary roughness on Trent Cole for grazing Peyton Manning's helmet on the way to swipe the ball. The Colts get a first down, score, and are right back in the game. I understand that the referees followed the letter of the law in this case, but come on. This was a play that could have altered the outcome of the game, and for what? It wasn't like the player was lunging forward with his helmet or diving at his knees, these incidental shots happen in the trenches and referees need to decipher what is intentional and what is not. The rule needs to be adapted and can't be so broad.
Finally, let's get to the hot button topic of the moment and it is these crushing blows that leave players concussed and unconscious. Take the Collie play for instance. I have watched the video 100 times and have yet to see anything warranting a fine, let alone a flag. Both players led with their shoulders, and I'm not so sure that Collie's impact on the grass wasn't more of what led to the concussion than the hits by Mikell and Coleman. The referee saw that the player was knocked out, threw the flag and the Colts got a new lease on their drive which resulted in points, another possible game changing play. You can't throw a flag based on the result of the play, that the player was knocked out. If it's a clean hit, no harm no foul. The ruling was that the player was defenseless, how can he be defenseless when he has the ball in his hands? If the pass sails over his head and then gets drilled, then fine, but don't tell me he's defenseless when he has the ball in his hands. Basically what it's come down to the last couple weeks is, you catch a pass over the middle and get drilled, you will draw a flag.
It was absolutely excruciating to see these two plays go the way they did and impact the game the way they did. The NFL needs to find better ways to police these hits and decipher which are legal and illegal. It's gotten to the point where they throw flags for every big hit, regardless of the legality of it. These plays have impacted games in the past and the NFL needs to do their part to make sure that it doesn't happen going forward.
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