Quote:
Originally Posted by J BONE
Come on man. You're telling me that hit didn't warrant a penalty? Straight shot to the head?
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I think you'd have a point.... If Suh's initial contact was even to the head, which it wasn't. You can clearly see it in the replay that if Suh did touch Cutler's head, it was as a result of his hand sliding up from the initial contact on the shoulder pads and collar area. Hochuli even offered his specific reasoning for the call as a forearm hit, which it wasn't. Also to the head, which it wasn't. Suh is a beast, so yeah, the push did have quite an impact on Cutler's body. What should he have done? Hugged him real gently and whispered sweet nothings into his ear? Maybe make him breakfast the next morning? Ask him to please stop running?
I understand how the call was missed in real time. That happens. However, after seeing the replay I guess Suh is just a victim of his own strength. Sure, he didn't have the purest intentions pushing him down like that, but c'mon, how many of the best defensive players in the history of the game (and even in the game ATM) had "good intentions" when lining up to hit an offensive player? And how many offensive players go after their objective with non-malicious intentions? I don't think he was trying to hurt Cutler; I think he was being a physical, aggressive player. He just pushed him so damn hard that it looked like Cutler got hit by a damn bus from behind. You can play aggressively and "mean" without trying to hurt the other guy, and still be within the bounds of the rules set by the NFL.
It wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome of the game. The Lions secondary was being the secondary again, and their offensive gameplan had long since gone into "turtle mode", so whether it affected the outcome of the game is a moot point. Chicago would have scored a TD on that drive anyway. Detroit lost when they failed to put the ball in the endzone after recovering the ball at the Chicago 9.