The Hit on Michael Pittman
 

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Many Colts fans were outraged at the hit on Michael Pittman yesterday.

Looking at the hit objectively as I possibly can, I did not see it as a dirty play. Pittman laid out for the catch, and the defender turned his head and hit Pittman with his shoulder. Yes, the Steelers defender hit Pittman in the head, but with Pittman stretched out and reaching for the ball, there really was no other place to hit him. And I don't think that he was aiming for Pittman's head, I think that he simply hit the first body part that his shoulder collided with, which was (unfortunately) Pittman's head.

So, let's assume that it was a dirty hit ...... what was the alternative for the Steelers' defender ??? The alternative was to not hit Pittman at all, and watch as Pittman lay out and make an outstanding catch to the delight of the roaring home crowd.


And so, in my rat's ass of an opinion, it comes back to this ...... football is an extremely aggressive and physical game, and I believe that in an effort to make it "safer" the NFL has actually not only made it unfair for defensive players, but has also made it more dangerous for defensive players ...... you can get hurt if you're constantly worried about getting penalties for unnecessary roughness and/or late hits that are not late in a sport that is so fast and so violent. If I were a head coach, I would tell my defenders to just continue to play the game the way that they were taught to since they were in high school, and to let the chips fall where they may with unfair roughing calls ...... I would rather have a 15-yard penalty called against my player as opposed to having my player lose his natural instincts in a sport as fast and as violent as is tackle football.

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Watching live I thought it was definitely a dirty hit and that Kazee definitely should be thrown out of the game. After watching some replays, which weren't shown on the broadcast, I think the argument can be made that it should have just been a penalty and not an ejection.

Something to consider though is that this was the 2nd Colts player injured in as many drives due to illegal hits/tackles (Moss getting horse collared being the other one), and the refs wanted to make sure shit didn't get out of hand.

Since Pittman was going to end up on the ground anyway, all he would have to do was make contact while he was on the ground.

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Pittman still could have caught ball while he was going to the ground. In fact, Pittman almost did catch the ball as he was going to the ground. The shoulder hit was what made him drop the ball.

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If a guys airborne he’s defenseless… to deliver a blow to his head and neck area is dirty as fuck as he’s laying horizontally to the ground

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As I said, the alternative would have been to not hit Pittman, and hope that he dropped the ball. He hit him with his shoulder, and he didn't aim for his head, he hit the first body part that came his way.

The NFL could institute a rule that an airborne receiver isn't to be touched, under any circumstances ...... as it stands, that is essentially the way the game is being officiated, anyway.

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There’s a difference between touching an airborne guy to ensure he’s down as opposed to throwing your shoulder into him knowing he’s defenseless… I’ve said in other threads as far as I’m concerned NFL should go to NCAA rules when a guys in the ground hes down because defenders literally try and hurt players by pouncing on top of them

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Touching an airborne player who is flying through the air does nothing, except maybe break the fingers of the defender. You actually expected the Steelers defender to reach out and "touch" Pittman while Pittman was laying out and diving for the ball, and that that would somehow cause Pittman to drop the ball?

Like I said, the way that the game is officiated now, an airborne receiver isn't to be touched, under any circumstances ...... they may as well make it official and put those exact words into the rulebook, and stop pretending that the defender has some kind of recourse other than making a hit with their shoulder, because they don't.

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Try and hit the ball, or put your hands on the guy if he makes the catch it’s a hell of a play but he’s down. That could’ve ended his career, they we’re trying to take guys out because that horse collar on moss was ridiculous he didn’t even try and let up

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I'm not talking about the horse-collar play, I'm talking about the hit on Pittman.

If you watch the play with any objectivity, you'll see that the defender doesn't have the multiple choices that you suggest ...... he could either turn and hit the receiver with his shoulder (which he did), or he could have stepped back and hoped that Pittman dropped the ball.

Regarding defenseless receivers, the receivers themselves have a choice in the matter of becoming defenseless in the first place. They are choosing to dive across their bodies and lay out for a pass ...... the choice on the part of the receiver to do that should not therefore inhibit the ability of the defender to prevent him from catching the pass by hitting him. Just like a quarterback who chooses not to slide, lowers his shoulder, and takes on a defender in order to get the yardage needed for a first down ...... if the quarterback doesn't want to risk injury, he can slide and avoid contact. If he wants the first down badly enough, he can lower his shoulder and take on the defender to get the yardage ...... but either way, it's his choice. And in the extremely fast and violent game of tackle football, the same is true of the receiver who dives head-first and horizontally for a ball that he wants to catch ...... it's a very risky maneuver because he's leaving himself defenseless in doing so. And if the NFL were to be forthright and honest about it, they would stop pretending and just put it in the rulebook that a "defenseless" airborne receiver is not to be touched, under any circumstances.

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So Pittman shouldn’t lay out and let the ball get intercepted?

The defensive players are at the liberty of the offensive players

Also take that individual player into consideration of the situation… not the first time he’s been involved in hits like that

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Pittman has every right to lay out and try to make the catch, and/or try to stop the defender from intercepting the ball ...... and the defender should have every right to not change his play on defense because Pittman is choosing to lay out and trying to make the catch.

The rhetorical question that you just asked me is ironic, because it's the same rhetorical question that I asked in the first place ...... and that is, should the defender not make the hit and just hope that the receiver drops the ball because the receiver chooses to lay out horizontally, and leaves himself defenseless.

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It was dirty. When you hit the head like that it’s on purpose. He didn’t pull up, go for the body, go for the ball, he lowered his head and went for the head. He deserved to be tossed and fined. A suspension wouldn’t surprise me. Literally you can hit anywhere on a receiver except the head and neck area. He knew that and did it anyway.

If a guy leaves his feet you have 2 options… decide if you can get the ball before him and go for it or make sure he’s down after he makes the catch. Any tackle of an airborne WR will get you flagged and they know that

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So if a receiver leaves his feet, he is not to be touched ...... that's exactly what I said in regard to the way in which the games are being officiated. And I explained, in detail, why I believe that that is unfair to the defender.

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It’s all unfair to the defenders I agree with that but that’s the game

You know it , I know it, and the players know it

I felt the ejection was completely warranted and it's probably one of the first times I've ever felt like that when consuming the professional product.

That horse collar the series before was garbage and sent a Colt out of the game, and then they followed it up with that bullshit. They were out of control. It's like Tomlin got into their collective assess and preached urgency, and they were unable to follow through on that in a controlled manner. In my opinion Tomlin's facial expression after the hit looked as if he knew that was inappropriate and unnecessary, and that he really did not have his guys under control. The lack of discipline was clear, and probably speaks to some of the "culture" stuff I've been seeing former Steeler players whine about.

Pittman is a curious one and it looks like he's entered his peak. This is the most polished he's ever looked to me and I suspect it helps that he finally has a relatively average but at least minimally competent quarterback. I don't think he's a top 3 guy, but he does everything for Indianapolis.

Nobody should be willing to pay Pitt more than Indianapolis does this offseason.

He launched and that is a clear no-no in the NFL. You have very little control of your body when you launch.

Had he made that same hit from his feet it would've still been a penalty but probably not an ejection.

I think we all understand what you are saying. Our point is that the guy had options besides the one he took. He could have went for the pass breakup without launching into his head and neck area. I have always said that a player who injured another player with a hit that is worthy of a penalty should have to sit until the injured player is able to return. That’s the only way to clean up dirty play.

The defender was not only ejected, but also suspended for the rest of the season. The league acknowledges that he is a dirty player.

Not "not touched", just "not pummeled". You can absolutely try to knock the ball out of a jumping receiver's hands, or use your body weight to force one at the boundary line out of bounds. Neither of those involves launching with the helmet or shoulders. Those kinds of hits can potentially hospitalize, paralyze, or as in one case, kill an opponent.

I think his prior history played a big factor in the suspension.


This incident is now the 6th time this season in which he will be fined.

He was previously fined for:

Hit on defenseless player - Week 12

Hit on defenseless player - Week 8

Impermissible use of helmet - Week 8

Impermissible use of helmet - Week 7

Unsportsmanlike Conduct - Week 2

I completely agree on both the bold points. I hate the softening of the league and find a lot of the unnecessary roughness penalties annoying if not nonsensical... but I legit flew out of my seat on this hit.

And there should be absolutely no shot in hell that Pittman leaves IND. Young dude battles, produces, and has been a fucking professional throughout.

I think I've made myself clear on game days that Pittman Jr. is my favorite guy on this team, so of course I agree with you. I'd add that from what I've read, he is considered a team leader by his teammates and coaches for how he conducts himself on Sunday, as well as how he prepares during the week. You don't let a guy like that go when you have a very young, potential franchise QB in the wings still learning the game.

I 100% thought the ejection was fair, I like how the stripes didn't mess around and just ejected him.

When I read yesterday that he was suspended for the remainder of the season, I thought that was a bit extreme until I read Sunny's post.

Fsck that Kazee guy. He paid 59k in fines for what Sunny mentioned, will miss out on $208k in game checks. His base salary is $1.2M. A 17.3% pay cut is an expensive forced incompletion.

No One: What does Tom Brady think?
Tom Brady: "Nobody likes seeing players get hurt. But hard hits happen. QBs should not be throwing the ball in areas where they are exposing their own teammates to these types of hits. Coaches need to coach better, QBs needs to read coverages and throw the ball to the right places and defenders should aim for the right hitting areas. To put the blame on the [defensive] player all the time is just flat-out wrong. Need better QB play!! It's not OK QBs to get your WRs hit because of your bad decisions!"

That's the reason for the suspension, you could argue that he should already have been suspended.

What i also liked was that Mike Tomlin just accepted it on the field, he was not arguing the decision at all. I am not sure there are many other coaches who would have reacted how he did.

Tomlin is up there as one of the best Head Coaches of the past 20 years. He gets the best out of his players, and creates a solid coaching staff year in year out.

Of course Shady chimes in. He hates the Colts, and this is his chance to get people talking about him again. It is funny how this is the first time I have seen him weigh in on any penalties or fines. Only when the call benefits a team he does not like.

GTFO of the league already. Same goes to their TE and small receiver who thinks he's tough. YOU take that hit and we'll see what you say THEN!

Kazee appealed the suspension and he has now lost the appeal.

The arbiter ruled that Kazee will be suspended for the remaining regular season games. However, Kazee could be activated for the playoffs if the Steelers somehow make the post season.


https://twitter.com/NFLfootballinfo/...41314047697038

Yep. Ridiculous for that douchebag to say something like that considering he threw a temper tantrum anytime a defender got w/in 5 feet of him and a flag wasn't thrown.

Pittman has been ruled out for the Atlanta game. Some concussion symptoms reemerged last night.

It felt too soon after that hit, sucks but on to the Super Bowel

I read it was the shoulder :confused:

Don’t know, that’s what I read.