Any fine for the helmet-to-helmet on Bradford?

[UtterBlitz]

Good point about Bradford being out of the pocket. I did not pay attention to where he was when he got hit.

There is no way that Barnes should have been fined. I did consider that to be a make up call by the officials.

[Nick]

Good point about Bradford being out of the pocket. I did not pay attention to where he was when he got hit.

There is no way that Barnes should have been fined. I did consider that to be a make up call by the officials.

Agreed completely. There's no reason for the Barnes play to warrant a fine; it probably didn't even warrant a flag.

The NFL is trying to have it both ways. On one hand, they're trying to take a hard line on these hits by claiming it's about player safety. But then you look at this situation, and you've got Sam being speared in the head by another player, and it doesn't draw a foul or a fine. But a very weak forearm to the neck does? Which play was less safe for the quarterback?

Just makes zero sense to me, and I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of these head scratching situations through the season if they keep this up.

[UtterBlitz]

Agreed completely. There's no reason for the Barnes play to warrant a fine; it probably didn't even warrant a flag.

The NFL is trying to have it both ways. On one hand, they're trying to take a hard line on these hits by claiming it's about player safety. But then you look at this situation, and you've got Sam being speared in the head by another player, and it doesn't draw a foul or a fine. But a very weak forearm to the neck does? Which play was less safe for the quarterback?

Just makes zero sense to me, and I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of these head scratching situations through the season if they keep this up.

it will be confusing trying to follow the rules, the penalties and the suspensions.

I have been listening to a bit of sports radio this week and I really feel for the defensive players. They are fined and penalized for playing hard and the offensive players are protected. Some of the rules are confusing to them and they can't really adjust the way that they play if they want to make stops and disrupt the offense.

I don't like seeing the helmet to helmet collisions, but some are bound to happen. I don't know how the NFL can distinguish between dirty cheap shots meant to take players out and good clean hits.

[BrokenWing]

Well if you watch the video...I think they make the difference pretty clear.

I think they should make a finer line though, I think the fines should be for intentional ones, not accidental ones. Intentional ones are generally easy to spot, because they involve the player loading up and aiming for the head, it's easy to see on the field.

[UtterBlitz]

Well if you watch the video...I think they make the difference pretty clear.

I think they should make a finer line though, I think the fines should be for intentional ones, not accidental ones. Intentional ones are generally easy to spot, because they involve the player loading up and aiming for the head, it's easy to see on the field.

Which video are you talking about BrokenWing? The NFL did not send me a copy

So are helmet to helmet hits allowed on running backs and quarterbacks outside the pocket?

[UtterBlitz]

Here is an article showing confused players

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/post/_/id/2447/pace-rips-nfl-for-helmet-to-helmet-crackdown

Pace rips NFL for helmet-to-helmet crackdown
October, 25, 2010
Oct 25 4:45 PM ET

By Rich Cimini
Count Calvin Pace among those who don't like the NFL's new crackdown on helmet-to-helmet hits. The Jets' outside linebacker ripped it Monday, calling it a case of "bad timing" and claiming it robs the game of the toughness element.

"I say it's a shame because the game is built of toughness and physicality, and people are trying hard to take that away," Pace said. "They argue about player safety, but none of the players are complaining.

"The players, we don't have a voice, let's be honest, because whenever you try to speak on something, right or wrong, somebody will fine you or somebody will say you can't say something. As a fan, if I were paying my money, I would speak up. Whatever the move would be to get some attention, I would do that."

The Jets, coming off a six-day, bye-week respite, convened for the first time since the league announced the crackdown. The coaching staff addressed it with the players, who were shown the league-distributed video that shows the difference between legal hits and illegal hits.

"I have no idea what the video means," LB Bart Scott said. "The legal hits and not legal hits look exactly the same to me."

Pace said the defensive coaches talked about "how you have to take your shot a little bit lower nowadays." He also said it's hard to change rules on the fly.

"It's just bad timing," Pace said. "It's hard to implement a rule seven weeks into the season. Speak on it, true, I get that. But the suspension thing? I don't see it. Do you suspend a Ray Lewis for hitting Dustin Keller (in Week 1)? That was a clean hit -- I'm not saying it was dirty -- but do you suspend a man and he misses the next game? That could change somebody's season."

Pace paused.

"I'm just a lowly peasant," he said. "Maybe somebody with a little more power will say something."

Scott, one of the most outspoken players in the league, said he has no problem with the league's initiative. He said players simply have to adjust their games.

"If you decide to take a shot like that, you're going to be dealt with," he said. "What are you going to do, not play? I'm not going to retire."

[tomahawk247]

I'll be surprised if Chris Long gets away without a fine after the game against Tampa, as i'm pretty sure i saw him hit Freeman in the helmet when making a hit when Freeman was in the pocket

[Nick]

Which video are you talking about BrokenWing? The NFL did not send me a copy

So are helmet to helmet hits allowed on running backs and quarterbacks outside the pocket?

You can view the video on NFL.com, at this link...

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/09000d5d81b80962/Player-safety

[UtterBlitz]

Thank Nick for the link. I watched it, it is nice and short and it seems to only address "defenseless" players, which I believe are mostly receivers that are trying to catch a ball. Maybe I need to look up what a defenseless player is.

They don't address hits on running backs or QBs at all in this video. I am not sure if the hit on Bradford was legal or not. It was helmet to helmet. I am not sure if a Qb is considered defenseless or not, especially if he has moved out of the pocket.

I am guessing that we will see more videos like this one if more head injuries happen.