redag06 said:

---

He led with his forearm. It was a cheap shot!

---

It was cheap-ish. But not that long ago that would have been called football.

The sliding rules for QBs are stupid and allow QBs to slide at the last second to avoid contact.

All the handwringing overwrought histrionics on the broadcast and to an extent here are a bit much.

Leading with your forearm has always been cheap.

It serves no purpose other than to injure.

Football is what Cooper De Jean just did to Derick Henry.

redag06 said:

---

He led with his forearm. It was a cheap shot!

---

Clearly a cheap shot. It's very rare that everyone across the board agrees on a play/hit like this, I haven't seen anyone defending it. He was head hunting.

I do agree the Internet reaction to that hit is a bit much. But the Internet is gonna Internet.

---

redag06 said:

---

He led with his forearm. It was a cheap shot!

---

pagerman @ work said:

It was cheap-ish. But not that long ago that would have been called football.

The sliding rules for QBs are stupid and allow QBs to slide at the last second to avoid contact.

All the handwringing overwrought histrionics on the broadcast and to an extent here are a bit much.

---

Yeah, it wasn't a helmet to helmet shot like I originally thought. It wasn't a good luck, for sure, and at minimum was a personal foul. The forearm to the grill was bad, whether intended or not.

I wish A&M had such bad intentions last night...

The announcers kept saying it was a shot to the helmet, which it wasn't. But he definitely knew where Lawrence was hurting. They also didn't notice Nico taking a helmet to helmet shot a few possessions later, and neither did the refs.

redag06 said:

---

He led with his forearm. It was a cheap shot!

---

Seems that slamming your forearm into someone's face mask/helmet would really hurt.

Maybe that dude is all tweaked up or something.

Frok said:

---

I do agree the Internet reaction to that hit is a bit much. But the Internet is gonna Internet.

---

Yeah. Chase Daniels tweeted it was one of the dirtiest hits he's ever seen. Lmao.

I’ve been covering the NFL for 48 years and I can’t remember a cheap shot worse than what Al-Shaair did to Lawrence. He’ll be lucky to avoid a suspension.

— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) December 1, 2024

Loading full tweet…

Must not have a very good memory. It was a cheap shots, but cheap shots happen almost weekly.

Daddy-O5 said:

---

I’ve been covering the NFL for 48 years and I can’t remember a cheap shot worse than what Al-Shaair did to Lawrence. He’ll be lucky to avoid a suspension.

— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) December 1, 2024

Loading full tweet…

---

This guy is uber-dramatic in every post he makes

Man he's such a clown. Guess he never watched Vontaze Burfict

He is a SAG card carrying thespian though... just ask him

Daddy-O5 said:

---

I’ve been covering the NFL for 48 years and I can’t remember a cheap shot worse than what Al-Shaair did to Lawrence. He’ll be lucky to avoid a suspension.

— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) December 1, 2024

Loading full tweet…

---

So is this John announcing he has memory issues?

NFL Films used to put them into a compilation and sell them with titles like "The NFL's Biggest Hits of the 80s".

Dramatic, General.

- Myles slings helmet-
- Suh stomps on dudes
- Jim McMahon body slammed by Charles Martin waaay after play is over, 2 week suspension.

Just off the top of my head.

Probably just recency bias and virtue signaling.

Why is anyone surprised by Azeez Al-Shaiir?

He’s Vontaze Burfict lite. If you don’t want it, don’t sign him.

This is who he has always been, and I say this with no emotion either way.

— Mike Meltser (@MikeMeltser) December 1, 2024

Loading full tweet…

---

Daddy-O5 said:

---

Click to load Tweet

---

Cynic said:

This guy is uber-dramatic in every post he makes

---

It's football shut the f&ck up and grow a pair. I applaud the hit cheap or not. Knocked their starting quarterback out. Everyone on here crying about the hit are the same ones that say real men played football back in the 60s and 70s. When there were constant cheap shots. I applaud Anderson for escorting his teammate off the field after he was ejected. I applaud the college players for refusing to let the other team plant their flag on the 50 yard line. The pro players of today would have been exchanging jerseys at the 50

It's just a job to these guys now, very little passion for anything other than the paycheck.

---

Daddy-O5 said:

---

Click to load Tweet

---

Cynic said:

This guy is uber-dramatic in every post he makes

---

Dude ate his memory away

Sure, you can pretend like it's actual war just like you did with your plastic army men when you were a little boy, but even if you want to play tough guy because Oakley Dad season is over and you can't find an umpire or a 9 year old to scream at, there's still a problem with your logic. In the 70's you couldn't give yourself up like that. Lawrence deliberately made himself vulnerable, and put himself in more danger. The violence of the hit wasn't the problem; the vulnerability of the player was. If we're going to advocate shooting POW's, then the rules of surrender need to change.

---

Daddy-O5 said:

---

Click to load Tweet

---

pagerman @ work said:

So is this John announcing he has memory issues?

NFL Films used to put them into a compilation and sell them with titles like "The NFL's Biggest Hits of the 80s".

---

All these "this is the worst of all time" seem to forget…..


Myles Garret beat down of Mason Rudolph. (He was band for rest of season)

Adamacan Suh when he almost broke the neck of that OL for the packers.……

Or Albert Haynesworrh with a cleat to the face of an OL.

Or the Browns OL who took a flag to the eye and beat an official……


All were horrible


Today's hit was not even top 20….. it just looked bad.

McClain in a tool and a drama queen.

Agree completely. And as has been said above, the current rules for how a qb takes himself out of the play leaves him completely exposed to a defender flying at him full speed. It hasn't been thought through very well.

Triple S said:

---

Today's hit was not even top 20….. it just looked bad.

McClain in a tool and a drama queen.

---

You'd assume McClain was there in '12 when Schaub lost part of his ear on a hit.

BQRyno said:

---

Agree completely. And as has been said above, the current rules for how a qb takes himself out of the play leaves him completely exposed to a defender flying at him full speed. It hasn't been thought through very well.

---

I spent 2 weeks in the hospital with my son last year after a concussion. The doctors stressed repeatedly that he could not get another one, especially before the first one healed. That makes this play even worse than most of the targeting calls you see, because the proximity of the ball carrier's head to the ground makes it possible, even probable, that he got 2 concussions on the same play. I would definitely start coaching my QB's to dive rather than slide.

That's brutal. Hope your son recovered completely and has no more issues.

I agree. Don't run, run out of bounds, dive, or slide way early. You can't wait until the defender has you in his sights and assume your slide and the rules are going to keep you safe.

If I'm not mistaken, our defense was horrible when Azeez was out this year. If he's suspended we are cooked. Other linebackers are garbage.

Current AFC projected playoff matchups

#1 Chiefs - bye
#2 Bills vs. #7 Broncos
#3 Steelers vs. #Ravens
#4 Texans vs. #5 Chargers

This is a total mishmash right now because the Texans and Ravens have played 13 games and everyone else has played 12.

The top 4 seeds are probably locked in. Chiefs are 11-1, Bills 10-2, Steelers an amazing 9-3, Texans 8-5

Chargers 8-4, Ravens 8-5, Broncos 7-5

The Colts are 6-7, the Dolphins are 5-7, everyone else is at least 4 games under .500.

If things stayed the way they are right now, it would probably be the Texans' best route for any sort of success.

The current NFC matchups if you're interested.

#1 Lions - bye
#2 Eagles vs. #7 Bucs/Ras/Falcons/Cardinals (all 6-6)
#3 Commanders vs. #6 Packers
#4 Seahawks vs. #5 Vikings

At this point the 10-2 Vikings and 9-3 Packers would both be road teams in the wild card round against 8-5 Washington and 7-5 Seattle.

Sadly the 5-7 Niners and Cowboys are technically a game out of the playoff chase.

Our closing schedule is just brutal

The Porkchop Express said:

---

Current AFC projected playoff matchups

#1 Chiefs - bye
#2 Bills vs. #7 Broncos
#3 Steelers vs. #Ravens
#4 Texans vs. #5 Chargers

This is a total mishmash right now because the Texans and Ravens have played 13 games and everyone else has played 12.

The top 4 seeds are probably locked in. Chiefs are 11-1, Bills 10-2, Steelers an amazing 9-3, Texans 8-5

Chargers 8-4, Ravens 8-5, Broncos 7-5

The Colts are 6-7, the Dolphins are 5-7, everyone else is at least 4 games under .500.

If things stayed the way they are right now, it would probably be the Texans' best route for any sort of success.

The current NFC matchups if you're interested.

#1 Lions - bye
#2 Eagles vs. #7 Bucs/Ras/Falcons/Cardinals (all 6-6)
#3 Commanders vs. #6 Packers
#4 Seahawks vs. #5 Vikings

At this point the 10-2 Vikings and 9-3 Packers would both be road teams in the wild card round against 8-5 Washington and 7-5 Seattle.

Sadly the 5-7 Niners and Cowboys are technically a game out of the playoff chase.

---

Commanders can't be the 3 seed with Eagles as the 2...NFC South winner (currently Falcons) would be the #4 seed right now

The problem with these late hits is that for some QBs, it's very obvious when they're giving themselves up.

Then you have the QBs like Mahomes and Allen who will fake running out of bounds or sliding and then pick up extra yards because the defense doesn't hit them.

It was definitely a late hit, which I think looked worse in real time w/ emotions than it actually was, but the NFL has to make this sort of play more obvious and even for both offense and defense. I don't know what that looks like, but I get wanting to hit the QB given the fakeouts that have started to become more common.

Other rule that needs to be adjusted is offsetting penalties. I have never understood why a team can commit a hold and the defense get a ruffing the passer and a DPI, and they all offset and you replay the down. Clearly not all penalties are the same, especially given some are pre-snap, during the play, and after the play.

Texan_Aggie said:

---

The problem with these late hits is that for some QBs, it's very obvious when they're giving themselves up.

Then you have the QBs like Mahomes and Allen who will fake running out of bounds or sliding and then pick up extra yards because the defense doesn't hit them.

It was definitely a late hit, which I think looked worse in real time w/ emotions than it actually was, but the NFL has to make this sort of play more obvious and even for both offense and defense. I don't know what that looks like, but I get wanting to hit the QB given the fakeouts that have started to become more common.

Other rule that needs to be adjusted is offsetting penalties. I have never understood why a team can commit a hold and the defense get a ruffing the passer and a DPI, and they all offset and you replay the down. Clearly not all penalties are the same, especially given some are pre-snap, during the play, and after the play.

---

What Al-Shaair did was completely beyond the pale, but your point about Mahomes and Allen to me brings up the bigger issue which is those two guys generally don't behave like they're going to give themselves up once they start running. Mahomes in particular does this thing while he's running that makes it look like he's going to slide, but then he doesn't and the defenders don't hit him because of the way he runs. Allen is the king of the QBs who look like they're running out of bounds, but then he doesn't. I guarantee that's in the back of the mind of a lot of defenders who have a shot at a running QB. I don't think Lawrence is one of those guys, also the way he was hit was dirty, it's not like he was wrapping up a guy who started to slide, it was way more intense than that.

There's gotta be a larger distance between the defender and a runner before they give themselves up so that the defender knows when to stop. Too often they're already starting the tackle before the QB slides. If they really want to protect the QB they need to start the slide sooner so that the defense knows without a doubt they've given themselves up.

Agree. I would hate to be a defender put in the position of deciding in a split second whether Josh Allen was going to:

A. Juke me
B. Truck me, or
C. Slide

It had to be so hard to know what to do, oh and don't lead with your helmet or accidentally hit the QB in the "head or neck area".