Can anyone explain (helmet to helmet hits)

Consistency will never be consistent.

The fact that a QB can fake a football move while running the ball, and then slide last second and draw a flag from any contact that isnt two hands is BS.

It really isn't that difficult. If the defensive player lowers his helmet and leads with the crown of it, it's going to be an automatic ejection and possibly suspension. That's exactly what Burfict did, and Kwon did to Winston.

If the defensive player's helmet inadvertently collides with the offensive player's helmet, as was the case with Barnett, that is not going to lead to an ejection nor a suspension. Although it could lead to a penalty, based on the optics and result, as was the case with Barnett.

The former is very easy to determine. The latter does have some gray area and is tough for officials and players especially. I mean the human head is on top of the shoulders so it's naturally going to come first during a tackle. Players just have to adjust and be smarter about how they tackle. I hate how it slows the game down but with as big and fast as these guys are now, and with all the CTE happening, this is the only way the sport survives.

It really is a subjective call and the penalty is way too severe. First one should be 15 yards and a 1 quarter ejection. If it's the players 2nd one in the game or season it should be a one game suspension. This is similar to the NBA. Losing a player for an entire game on a subjective call is not right. Too many of these are not intentional and at the speed the game is played it's really hard to make a quick adjustment based on which way the offensive player is leaning.

Originally posted by Hysterikal:

Originally posted by TheGore49er:
I didnt see the other hit, just the Burfict one. He does have a long history with this and it looked very intentional on an already down opponent.

It was dirty as s**t for sure. But the Barnett hit and the hit on Josh Allen we're both pretty damn dirty and both players didn't get ejected.

Allen could have been flagged for lowering his helmet to initiate contact as a runner on that play. He will probably have a short career with how careless he is with his body.

In addition to the actual helmet to helmet you also can't hit around the face or neck area. You can't hit the QB too low or too high. You can't block back on a player if you are facing toward their goal line even when it isn't a blindside block. Blocking downfield is getting harder because they call illegal screens. Punts and kickoffs are pretty much a penalty every time for holding or blocking in the back. O line holding is being called more often. Then they have to huddle up or go to the camera replay to decide what happened. It's getting to the point where defenses can't play football.

Watching pro football is becoming more of a chore every week. I sometimes think the games only exist so they can have commercial breaks.

Originally posted by Kolohe:
Not as bad as the hit on Allen, but the hit on Allen was clearly head hunting, throwing a forearm to the head. And that hit by Kwon Alexander on Jameis Winston was no where near as bad as the hit on Allen. In the end it's a judgement call on the refs.

I think you might want to watch the play again in slow mo. It looks more like Allen had a role in his hit.

Originally posted by Kolohe:
Not as bad as the hit on Allen, but the hit on Allen was clearly head hunting, throwing a forearm to the head. And that hit by Kwon Alexander on Jameis Winston was no where near as bad as the hit on Allen. In the end it's a judgement call on the refs.

Perhaps our definition of head hunting is different.

I've seen a few people compare that hit to what Burfict did and I don't even see how that's remotely close.

Doyle was down on the ground, literally just had to touch him down. Burfict leads with the crown of his helmet and launches himself like a torpedo and pretty much goes through him.

Jones was trying to protect the first down marker. Allen was being tackled down from behind by a smaller player and up to that point he managed to brush off much bigger Pats players. It's a 3rd down play. Jones was certainly well in his right and should've made a big tackle to ensure Allen's momentum is stopped or he's pushed back from gaining the first down.

The issue was of course what happens in the process. Jones is trying to go in with his shoulder but he way Allen is falling initiates the helmet to helmet contact. The flag is thrown on the play. But Jones didn't lead with the crown of the helmet.

Brutal hit and drew a penalty for a reason. I don't think it was dirty. You can argue he could've tried to go lower but it's a split second decision and going high in that situation is more likely to stop his momentum.

He probably will get fined because it's a QB getting hit but I told my wife early in that game if Allen keeps running like that he's going to get hurt.

Helmet to helmet?

I think its when one dude, and another dude.............oh never mind.

Originally posted by TheGore49er:

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:

referees have these glasses they put on, which specifically prejudices them to make biased calls against teams from these counties:



Also, did this TB player even get ejected:

pic.twitter.com/dwEqq4M5dE

— Tucker_TnL (@__thirdandlong) September 29, 2019

That would be another ridiculous ejection. The guy isnt on the ground or in a defenseless position. Those kind of hits can happen, football is a very fast sport, you cant time these tackles perfectly...VB has a history of doing this.

Exactly. Plus he's a big ol O-Lineman. Lol he never practices tackles. Clearly no intention.
VB has I believe 14 prior ejections or suspensions. Either way he clearly has a hell of a track record

It all depends on who Goodell favors. He hates the 49ers, hence the ejection. OBJ throws punch and the guy retaliates with choking him, nothing happens.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
In addition to the actual helmet to helmet you also can't hit around the face or neck area. You can't hit the QB too low or too high. You can't block back on a player if you are facing toward their goal line even when it isn't a blindside block. Blocking downfield is getting harder because they call illegal screens. Punts and kickoffs are pretty much a penalty every time for holding or blocking in the back. O line holding is being called more often. Then they have to huddle up or go to the camera replay to decide what happened. It's getting to the point where defenses can't play football.

Watching pro football is becoming more of a chore every week. I sometimes think the games only exist so they can have commercial breaks.

This has been the case for decades.

Originally posted by genus49:

Originally posted by Kolohe:
Not as bad as the hit on Allen, but the hit on Allen was clearly head hunting, throwing a forearm to the head. And that hit by Kwon Alexander on Jameis Winston was no where near as bad as the hit on Allen. In the end it's a judgement call on the refs.

Perhaps our definition of head hunting is different.

I've seen a few people compare that hit to what Burfict did and I don't even see how that's remotely close.

Doyle was down on the ground, literally just had to touch him down. Burfict leads with the crown of his helmet and launches himself like a torpedo and pretty much goes through him.

Jones was trying to protect the first down marker. Allen was being tackled down from behind by a smaller player and up to that point he managed to brush off much bigger Pats players. It's a 3rd down play. Jones was certainly well in his right and should've made a big tackle to ensure Allen's momentum is stopped or he's pushed back from gaining the first down.

The issue was of course what happens in the process. Jones is trying to go in with his shoulder but he way Allen is falling initiates the helmet to helmet contact. The flag is thrown on the play. But Jones didn't lead with the crown of the helmet.

Brutal hit and drew a penalty for a reason. I don't think it was dirty. You can argue he could've tried to go lower but it's a split second decision and going high in that situation is more likely to stop his momentum.

He probably will get fined because it's a QB getting hit but I told my wife early in that game if Allen keeps running like that he's going to get hurt.

Great post.

Kind of weird seeing how straightforward it is in the Rugby World Cup.
If there's game stoppage and suspicion, the ref goes to replay.
Arm hit neck? Yellow card. Sit out.
Head to head? Red card. Literally, go home.

But, the NFL is a different animal and there's a lot of money at stake. So wrt to the Rudolph knock out, I'm expecting the league to go easy on Thomas and BAL since they are a positive story this year. Got to hype a potential division winner as a contender for the conference belt. PIT ain't going anywhere this year, so they are just a bump in getting to contender status.

It's not that difficult. Players should see what they hit which means facemask contact. Players have gotten too accustomed to bending that neck down and aiming with their forehead or the top of their head instead of their face mask.

There are two other types of hits that should be illegal any time a player attempts it whether he makes brutal contact or not.

1. The hit when the defender makes his body near horizontal which 100% of the time results in helmet contact first whether it is to the knees or head. This one is usually more dangerous to the hitter.

2. The hit where the defender plows down onto an offensive player who is just about to go down to the ground. This type of hit usually injures both hitter (usually shoulder) or the runner (usually rib, back, or head).

In order to improve form tackling, any helmet hit that is made with any part of the helmet above the face mask and ear hole should be automatic penalty whether it hit the ball carrier in the head or not.