Hit On Flacco last night

[YankeeRebel]

It was certainly a penalty. I don't think he deserves a fine, but he'll probably get one just because the NFL is trying to look like it's taking a hard stance against head hits.

He does not deserve any extra punishments, like a suspension.

I can agree with this, mainly because it was apparent Flacco was giving himself up.

What about the linemen that started the altercation after the hit, should he be fined?

 

[flyingelvis]

Not elite. Can't slide right.

Here's elite...

 

[black francis]

Leading with the helmet and hitting Flacco in the head deserved the ejection. But I wouldn't call it dirty. Flacco was running for a first down, Alonso's job was to prevent that. A sliding target presents a much smaller window & flying at full speed like Kiko was makes it very difficult to avoid that hit to Joe's helmet, especially since a sliding player is essentially falling. Sure there MIGHT have been ways around it for both sides, but they are competitors and this is tackle football.

Not dirty, but deserved the ejection. It happens. A fine is likely necessary to keep with the status quo.

he hit him with his shoulder

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

he hit him with his shoulder

Hard to tell. Haven't seen another angle of the hit yet & the OP video doesn't really show otherwise.

 

[scotsman1948]

dirty hit deserves a hefty fine and suspension but the nfl will probably do little or nothing against him while pursing a player (Elliott) who has committed no crime (even the nfl's own investigator's report said there was no evidence to prove a crime and that the so-called victim was lying)

 

[YankeeRebel]

he hit him with his shoulder

Very true the same shoulder he targeted the head with.

 

[TP76]

I can agree with this, mainly because it was apparent Flacco was giving himself up.

What about the linemen that started the altercation after the hit, should he be fined?

Yeah, he needs to be fined as well.

 

[black francis]

Hard to tell. Haven't seen another angle of the hit yet & the OP video doesn't really show otherwise.

he moved his head midair so that he would avoid the head to head contact

he still hit him in the head, but not with his head

flacco should learn to slide sooner or just not run.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

he moved his head midair so that he would avoid the head to head contact

he still hit him in the head, but not with his head

flacco should learn to slide sooner or just not run.

Agree that Flacco should slide sooner if he doesn't want to get hit that way. I understand he wanted the first down, but he can't be mad if he gets knocked the f*ck out like he did. Can't push your luck in a game this lightning fast.

 

[elguapo]

It was dirty because you expect him to slide at that point and he slid. Flacco did the expected thing even if he did it a little late and the defender went all out 'physical' on the play.

The minute you as a defender expect a guy to slide and he doesn't, you just gave up 20 more yards.

 

[SU Nittany Tide]

My gut feeling tells me Alonso had the first down marker in mind and wasn't going to let him get to it, but defenders need to know better.

Deion Sanders had one of the worst arguments I've ever heard last night. He said if Flacco was really giving himself up then he would have slid further away from the first down mark. Are you fucking kidding me? A QB should be required to look at the first down line when he's running and if he is going to slide he should make sure it is well before that line?

 

[SU Nittany Tide]

Agree that Flacco should slide sooner if he doesn't want to get hit that way. I understand he wanted the first down, but he can't be mad if he gets knocked the f*ck out like he did. Can't push your luck in a game this lightning fast.

That's a bad argument. He slid plenty before Alonso hit him. That doesn't change just because it is right around the first down line. Alonso had to deliberately lower himself and still drive a hit into Flacco. It doesn't matter if it is right near the first down marker or 10 yards either side of it.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

That's a bad argument. He slid plenty before Alonso hit him. That doesn't change just because it is right around the first down line. Alonso had to deliberately lower himself and still drive a hit into Flacco. It doesn't matter if it is right near the first down marker or 10 yards either side of it.

So you're saying that defenders have to allow the QB to get the 1st down because he was sliding? Sounds pretty poosay to me.

 

[SU Nittany Tide]

So you're saying that defenders have to allow the QB to get the 1st down because he was sliding? Sounds pretty poosay to me.

Once the QB slides it doesn't matter what the defender does. The QB is down once he slides. Poor argument.

 

[Wazmankg]

That's a bad argument. He slid plenty before Alonso hit him. That doesn't change just because it is right around the first down line. Alonso had to deliberately lower himself and still drive a hit into Flacco. It doesn't matter if it is right near the first down marker or 10 yards either side of it.

Yes, the fact that he went so low to hit him clearly indicates he did exactly what he was trying to do. As someone else posted "the game slows down" for the players. It's something like that. In their heads the players are way ahead of what we see as viewers. He saw Flacco coming. He saw him starting to slide, he decided to light him up anyway and he did.

 

[Southieinnc]

he moved his head midair so that he would avoid the head to head contact

he still hit him in the head, but not with his head

flacco should learn to slide sooner or just not run.

He started to slide earlier then went into a 10 yard stretch. He knows to slide and by not going right down, put Alonso in a tough position.

 

[Clayton]

The minute you as a defender expect a guy to slide and he doesn't, you just gave up 20 more yards.

Under ideal circumstances Flacco ran a 4.9 40. Its probably closer to 2 yards than 20

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Once the QB slides it doesn't matter what the defender does. The QB is down once he slides. Poor argument.

You realize Kiko was already in tackling form when Joe tucked for the slide, right? From the time he entered the slide motion to when he got hit was less than a second, maybe a half second more. If you think Kiko had time to adjust then you're only kidding yourself.

 

[SU Nittany Tide]

He started to slide earlier then went into a 10 yard stretch. He knows to slide and put Alonso in a tough position.

All Alonso has to do is lay off the hit. If he makes any effort to spin or evade Flacco who is ON THE GROUND then he should get the benefit of the doubt. Instead he went full force in a downward motion. It is possible that Alonso just has poor reaction time, but I saw him as an Eagle and that would surprise me. He could have done anything to lessen the impact on Flacco, but he went full force into him.

 

[SU Nittany Tide]

You realize Kiko was already in tackling form when Joe tucked for the slide, right? From the time he entered the slide motion to when he got hit was less than a second, maybe a half second more. If you think Kiko had time to adjust then you're only kidding yourself.

Except he did adjust. If he was planning on tackling a running/standing Flacco then he would have been aiming more parallel with the ground. If he was adjusting to a Flacco on the ground then he does exactly what he did and points himself downwards with full force.