Why T.J. Watt wasn’t flagged for helmet-to-helmet hit on Brett Hundley before Steelers beat Packers 29

[Shoes]

Checkout Watts big old left foot on the gif. Nice shoes, almost looks like my high tops! :chuckle:


The Pittsburgh Steelers (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/pittsburgh-steelers) got the ball back in the final minute of regulation after outside linebacker T.J. Watt (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/285798/t-j-watt) came up with a crucial sack that helped end a Green Bay Packers (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/green-bay-packers) and eventually set up a game-winning field goal for Chris Boswell (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/245655/chris-boswell).
But replay showed Watt colliding with clear helmet-to-helmet contact on Packers quarterback Brett Hundley. It appeared to most watching, including Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth in the NBC booth, that a roughing passer call was missed.

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/11/26/16703644/tj-watt-pittsburgh-steelers-green-bay-packers-sack-rule-roughing-the-passer

[Butch]

Yes it was missed there were other missed calls as well. There were a couple of holds on both teams not called and one when they scored to tie the game. They could have called a lot more PIs against the packers but they didn't. I complain about the refs from time to time, but at least last night I can say they were not as bad as I have seen in other games this year.

I fully expect TJ will be getting a fedex package sometime this week.

[steelreserve]

Because he was running with the fucking ball, no need to even click on the link. They could've written the same article and titled it "Why James Harrison's fine and suspension for hitting Colt McCoy shouldn't have even been a penalty at all, and the commissioner sucks a llama's shitty asshole."

[st33lersguy]

I don't want to hear it. Refs have been biased against the Steelers all f-ing year, it hasn't stopped them from going 9-2.

Go ahead and bitch about the non-call all week while conveniently ignoring getting away with holding and DPI numerous times. Of course don't tell this to the swath of Steeler haters who think every Steeler win is a direct result of the refs, or blindly assume that every call that benefits the Steelers is a bad call

[Packers]

Man if only we could have gotten that call then maybe we could have won. Oh well we didn't. You guys made the plays and we couldn't do it.

[SteelerFanInStl]

Yes it was missed there were other missed calls as well. There were a couple of holds on both teams not called and one when they scored to tie the game. They could have called a lot more PIs against the packers but they didn't. I complain about the refs from time to time, but at least last night I can say they were not as bad as I have seen in other games this year.

I fully expect TJ will be getting a fedex package sometime this week.

Nothing was "missed" on that play. They called it correctly, just like the article says. He was a runner. Period. No foul.

No flag when Bryant was tackled 5 yards out of bounds on the KO return. No flag when AB was mugged on 3rd down, which stopped a drive. Cam and others held repeatedly. The Packers got the benefit of the calls in that game. No reason for them to complain.

[teegre]

This call was obvious (IMO).

Hundley touched the ball against his left hand and started to move it to that side (like a running back would), before seeing Watt coming to that side, and thus, Hundley switched it back to his right hand (where he tucked it)... making him a runner. Lastly, at no point during all of this, was Hundley looking downfield.

[hawaiiansteeler]

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/w4nGxmaRd9zL3FcDvlh96S6-8oI=/0x0:533x300/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:533x300):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9755877/hundleyy.0.gif

[fansince'76]

Go ahead and bitch about the non-call all week while conveniently ignoring getting away with holding and DPI numerous times. Of course don't tell this to the swath of Steeler haters who think every Steeler win is a direct result of the refs, or blindly assume that every call that benefits the Steelers is a bad call

DA STEALERS PAYED DA REFS! :chuckle:

[Moose]

I also agree that this was legit. Hundley was a runner going for the yards, looking down field until he realized that Watts was about to thump him. That's when he decided to 'buckle' up....welcome to the NFL ! Guess he should have stayed in his little QB cubicle. LOL Luckily his helmet didn't get launched like another QB's in recent weeks when he tried to become a runner.

[Shoes]

This call was obvious (IMO).

Hundley touched the ball against his left hand and started to move it to that side (like a running back would), before seeing Watt coming to that side, and thus, Hundley switched it back to his right hand (where he tucked it)... making him a runner. Lastly, at no point during all of this, was Hundley looking downfield.

Exactly!

[zulater]

The real question that play poses is why the hell wasn't Hundley pulled off the field for concussion evaluation? Either the Packers or the NFL on site spotter should have ordered him off the field before the ball was snapped again. I remember in real time my first thought was they got to get that guy off the field!

[Count Steeler]

The real question that play poses is why the hell wasn't Hundley pulled off the field for concussion evaluation? Either the Packers or the NFL on site spotter should have ordered him off the field before the ball was snapped again. I remember in real time my first thought was they got to get that guy off the field!

I thought the same thing. Then I just shrugged my shoulders, what do I know? The NFL is a superior intelligence.

[86WARD]

Non story:

[vader29]

First QB I've ever noticed to chew bubble gum while on the field playing, no mouth-guard either that I could see.

[43Hitman]

The real question that play poses is why the hell wasn't Hundley pulled off the field for concussion evaluation? Either the Packers or the NFL on site spotter should have ordered him off the field before the ball was snapped again. I remember in real time my first thought was they got to get that guy off the field!
And like I quoted in the other post about this, he grabbed the top of his head while he was on the ground. A clear sign that he saw stars and was probably concussed.

[Shoes]

I think Watt was pretty clever on this play, he did not celebrate the hit or sack. He stoped for a second and you can tell he wanted to, but then just ran off the field. This young man is going to be a great one.

As expected, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt wasn’t fined this past week for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Hundley in the fourth quarter of the team’s Week 12 Sunday night game.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2017/12/t-j-watt-not-fined-helmet-helmet-hit-brett-hundley/

[Craic]

This call was obvious (IMO).

Hundley touched the ball against his left hand and started to move it to that side (like a running back would), before seeing Watt coming to that side, and thus, Hundley switched it back to his right hand (where he tucked it)... making him a runner. Lastly, at no point during all of this, was Hundley looking downfield.

Yeah, you were right (and I was wrong) here. I thought that he had his eyes downfield and then tucked the ball to step out, which meant he was still a protected player. According to this tweet by the refs, had he done that, he still would have been considered a runner.
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The real question that play poses is why the hell wasn't Hundley pulled off the field for concussion evaluation? Either the Packers or the NFL on site spotter should have ordered him off the field before the ball was snapped again. I remember in real time my first thought was they got to get that guy off the field!

Honestly, I wondered the exact same thing.

[Butch]

Yeah I too stand corrected, when I 1st saw it I thought he was simply ducking down to avoid the hit, but now that I have seen it again it was a great play by TJ

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

At the end of the day, this is the game of football. If people are mortified by the fact that helmets will contact each other at times during a game, and in this case where the tackler is lowering his center of gravity to make a tackle and the QB/runner is bracing and lowering his COG, then those people that find it dangerous or offensive should go find a tennis court.

Its football, 2 guys hit helmets in a glancing shot while the game was being played...no big deal. I'm so tired of how what was once a great sport, has been influenced by a bunch of sissies, so that players are penalized for playing it with maximum effort..

[Mojouw]

At the end of the day, this is the game of football. If people are mortified by the fact that helmets will contact each other at times during a game, and in this case where the tackler is lowering his center of gravity to make a tackle and the QB/runner is bracing and lowering his COG, then those people that find it dangerous or offensive should go find a tennis court.

Its football, 2 guys hit helmets in a glancing shot while the game was being played...no big deal. I'm so tired of how what was once a great sport, has been influenced by a bunch of sissies, so that players are penalized for playing it with maximum effort..

I don't think that people are "mortified" of "offended" but more that they are advocating for a version of the rules that do not result in almost all former players having some amount of neurological damage.

I'm not sure that a handful more flags a season per team isn't a fair trade for guys not committing suicide.

That being said, I am also troubled by how the NFL has backed itself into a corner with this issue where now it is attempting to regulate intent and basic physics all while worrying about what it looks like in super-slow motion.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

I don't think that people are "mortified" of "offended" but more that they are advocating for a version of the rules that do not result in almost all former players having some amount of neurological damage.

I'm not sure that a handful more flags a season per team isn't a fair trade for guys not committing suicide.

That being said, I am also troubled by how the NFL has backed itself into a corner with this issue where now it is attempting to regulate intent and basic physics all while worrying about what it looks like in super-slow motion.

I have coached youth and highschool football for the past 20+ years and the attention on concussions in football has created an entire generation of people that look at football as a dangerous and violent sport. Still, the attention to sports like MMA, Hockey, Boxing and even Soccer that have a large amount of head trauma, doesn't seem to get nearly the scrutiny that football does.

I don't know that almost all former football players having neurological damage is an accurate statement, but things can and have been done to make tackling safer over the years. I believe there are lots of ex players that have productive lives after football, and probably posters on this board that played some football who have suffered concussions that haven't committed suicide.

The fact that that hit is being discussed and argued about whether or not it justified a penalty or fine seems silly to me. It happened, it wasn't flagged, football is a collision sport so move on to next week. I think there are a lot more cheaper and intentional hits that garner interest, rather than one that was just incidental to a tackle. IMO, Gronkowski should be suspended for a game for his hit to the back of the head of Tre Davious White. That was just dirty and dangerous.

[Mojouw]

I have coached youth and highschool football for the past 20+ years and the attention on concussions in football has created an entire generation of people that look at football as a dangerous and violent sport. Still, the attention to sports like MMA, Hockey, Boxing and even Soccer that have a large amount of head trauma, doesn't seem to get nearly the scrutiny that football does.

I don't know that almost all former football players having neurological damage is an accurate statement, but things can and have been done to make tackling safer over the years. I believe there are lots of ex players that have productive lives after football, and probably posters on this board that played some football who have suffered concussions that haven't committed suicide.

The fact that that hit is being discussed and argued about whether or not it justified a penalty or fine seems silly to me. It happened, it wasn't flagged, football is a collision sport so move on to next week. I think there are a lot more cheaper and intentional hits that garner interest, rather than one that was just incidental to a tackle. IMO, Gronkowski should be suspended for a game for his hit to the back of the head of Tre Davious White. That was just dirty and dangerous.

All of the medical data is repeatedly saying that 99+% of professional football players have some degree of neurological trauma by the end of their careers -- https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/07/25/boston-university-study-cte-nfl-player-brains

That percentage walks down as you move down the competition ladder (NCAA, high school, youth, etc).

No one was arguing that all former football players are suicide risks. I was arguing that minor changes to the game and how it is called in order to save any # of lives is more than worth it.

In my opinion, MMA and Boxing will be next to deal with this, but only once their participation #'s rise past a certain threshold level of public attention.

I agree that the endless hand-wringing and debates about what is called and what is not called is ludicrous. But we shouldn't deny the issue. Also in total agreement that what Gronk did was far worse.