Wesley's hit

[Chiefnj]

Were the referee's just trying to protect the golden boy Rams by throwing the flag on that play? The ball was still in the air when Wesley lowered the boom on Holt. Don't all safeties lead with their heads on tackles? I read at the Star that the league may fine Wesley also. I don't think it was a dirty hit, but then again I am biased.

[TEX]

Nj,
You are CORRECT! It was a HARD HIT. It's the way that football is MEANT to be played. I'll take that type of flag ANY DAY! It was a CLEAN hit - the same type of hit that used to happen on ANY given Sunday about 15 years ago!

[DanT]

That was a good call. You're not supposed to lead with your head like that. I want Wesley on my team for many years to come, not in Miami getting or receiving flowers for a spinal-cord injury victim.

[Brock]

Wesley probably could have and should have pulled up. That said, if you want to set the tone for how your defense is going to play, I'd rather it be TOO aggressive rather than not agressive enough.

[DanT]

The call that I didn't like was on Hicks for roughing the passer. Warner's quickly-released toss didn't have a chance of being completed and Hicks was already bearing down on him before the pass had been released. To me, that's the same situation that motivates the "intentional grounding" penalty; I don't think there should be a "roughing-the-passer" call against a player that's bearing down on a guy who ends up making a lousy pass--not unless that player cheapshots the QB, which Hicks did not do.

[Chiefnj]

My problem with the call is that the ball bounced off of someone's hands and was still in the air when Wesley hit him. I say if the ball is still in the air, near the receiver, you should have the right to hit the receiver to ensure he doesn't make a juggling catch.

I still think all of the whining that the Rams did all week about late hits had an effect on the refs.

[bkkcoh]

I sure thought Warner should have been called for grounding on that one play down around thier goal-line. It sure seemed like he was with-in the tackles and we all know he threw it away to prevent the sack.. [img]http://www.ChiefsPlanet.com/ubb/wink.gif[/img]



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bk

[DanT]

It's definitely OK to bop the receiver; you just can't do it with your head. I called the penalty right when it happened, that's how obvious it was (I'm a homeristic Chiefs fan who loves Wesley and the hits that he puts on folks, not someone who tries to spot penalties that should be called). Still, you're not supposed to lead with your head, and that's what Wesley did. He might end up getting fined for that play.

[mlyonsd]

I can't recall the last time I saw a safety get called for leading with his head. The ball and player were both still in bounds.

On the Warner grounding, if it's the play I remember Warner actually ran outside of the tackles quite a distance before running back to the middle of the field. As long as he ran outside the tackles during the play he can throw it anywhere. Should have tossed it to a fan though.

[DanT]

mlyonsd is correct on that "grounding" noncall. There's an official in the backfield that was watching for Warner to go outside the tackles. Warner eventually does go outside the tackles and then comes back. When he first goes outside the tackles, you can almost see by the official's body language that the possibility of an intentional grounding call has ended--the official actually repositions himself.

[mlyonsd]

I have a question....

I still don't understand the play that Grbac got hurt on. The Rams challenged the play, it was called a fumble, but the Chiefs then kicked on 4th down.

It looked to me on the replay that a Ram recovered the ball. Am I smoking something here?

[BIG_DADDY]

Wesley is kicking some serious a** out there right now. I REALLY like this kid and he will be the reason receivers drop the ball when they hear footsteps. The whole reason you pick up someone like him is so he will crush people. GOOD JOB WESLEY - KEEP IT UP!!!!

[DanT]

mlyonsd,

There wasn't a fumble on Grbac's last play: the officials ruled that he had tossed an incomplete forward pass. It's a judgement call that basically amounts to whether Grbac's arm was going forward at the time the ball got knocked out.

[mlyonsd]

Thanks for the explanation. I thought I heard the ref announce it was a fumble. Had a house full of people and couldn't hear everything on TV.

[DanT]

Hey mlyonsd,

I might be wrong. I saw the game in a noisy sports bar and am only guessing at what happened. Gunther was asked about the play in his postgame press conference: maybe you and the press heard the same thing--that the refs originally ruled that there was a fumble. If so, there should have been some kind of explanation for why they changed. To me, based strictly on what I saw on TV (and not what I heard), it looked like an incomplete forward pass.