I’ve said numerous times that every time the sport side of the NFL threatens the business side, the sport side loses. This is what I think is happening with all the calls for helmet to helmet contact.
There are too many players being carried off the field after hits to the head. The abundance of fans want good hits, but they don’t want to watch players being carted off the field after every other play.
In addition, the NFL doesn’t want to be facing a series of court cases concerning concussions, which supposedly cause players to come down with ALS, dimentia and other neurological diseases. The settlements are going to be big and even bigger if lawyers can prove the league didn’t try to prevent the injuries or allowed players to play who weren’t healthy.
It’s almost as if the NFL referees had been told to call a penalty on any play where a player gets hurt. Or maybe they’ve been told to call a penalty if a player gets hit really hard.
That brings us to the hits by Quintin Mikell and Kurt Coleman on the Colts Austin Collie.
After looking at the replays, I could see that Mikell hit Collie with his shoulder. Coleman also hit Collie with his shoulder, but the impact of Mikell’s hit caused Coleman’s helmet to hit Collie.
I could also see that Collie caught the football and ran for two steps. He wasn’t defenseless. Collie wasn’t hit before he had the ball tucked away and could protect himself. I think the fact that he was hit in the back and in front was the reason he was knocked out.
Cheffers is flat out wrong. I understand that the league told them to start calling these penalties if they’re in doubt, but the referees were wrong on this play.
Mikell has expressed a great deal of concern about not knowing exactly how the league wants defenders to tackle.
“To me, I saw him”, Mikell said after the game. “He had the ball and he kind of protected himself. He saw us coming. It looked like he had the ball and we separated him from it. I don’t know. It’s really frustrating, because to me, it seemed like a football play, but the ref made the call and we had to go with it.”
Coleman was asked if he thought Collie was knocked into him.
“Truthfully, I can’t say. I felt like it was a bang-bang play. I kind of got a little knocked too. You probably got a better view than I did. I was just trying to make a play on the football.”
It obviously happened so fast that the former Buckeye safety doesn’t know what happened. Unfortunately Coleman hit a wide receiver teammate in college, who was left paralyzed from the hit.
“I’m torn”, Reid said after the game. “That is one of my ex-teammate’s sons. I’ve known that kid for a long time. I have to evaluate exactly what took place. I saw the replay board, it was close.”
“The way the game is today, close things are going to be called in a safe direction. When you’re in the heat of it, do you like it? No. For the longevity of the player down the road and life after football, it’s a good thing. Bottom line, things like that are called against you, you have to regenerate your energy level and keep battling through. Don’t think the whole world is against you.
The NFL is dead…What we now have is a game where outcomes will be decided by referee’s and their judgement of what an illegal hit is. The hands to the head call against Cole took away a fumble recovery and so did the Collie hit..This game should have been a blowout. I think the refs are in bed with Vegas and will now, on top of the convienent pass-interference call, have another great call to manage games and point spreads without being obvious..the unnecessary roughness call…Total bullshit and this is one fan that’s starting to question his loyalty, not to the Philadelphia Eagle’s, but to the shield under which they play.
The Colts had 6 1st downs from penalties..and two turnover’s given back to them..What the Hell is that? I feel like were all tuning in to a lie every week.
Jimmy Mac I called my son’s and told them the same thing. These refs at like they had some money on the game.
Props to McDermott. You made halftime adjustment. Something that Jerimiah Trotter said that Jimmy Johnson never did.
Props to Demetri Patterson. I said you should be starting and you did not disappoint.
Props to Andrew Reid. Darn he was the biggest 13 year old kid I’ve ever seen. 12-0 after the bye is quite impressive.
Props to the Eagles front office. That was a hell of a pr risk you took going after Vick. You may now have the best player in the league for nothing.
Props to that young Eagles GM. Coleman may actually be better than Nate Allen. He put the fear of the Almighty in Tammie, and that’s why he short armed that perfect pass from Peyton in the second half.
G- I was looking at the play the same way. After the initial hit on Collie by Mickel, legal and with the shoulder, Collie’s head shifted in place and Coleman was already in place to follow with his hit. Coleman was set to hit him with the shoulder, and with Collie’s head moved by the Mickel hit, he ended up contacting the head. Terrible result, but certainly not intentional and should not have been a penalty.
I also believe that because of the injury, the referees declared that he did not have possession of the ball and therfore there was no fumble. From the replay it was clearly a catch and fumble. You combine this with the fact that the Trent Cole “head caress” also voided a fumble, it was a terrible day for the ref’s, but in general the Eagles have got to get rid of the penalties. We now have a reputation with the ref’s, and therefore it only increases the likelihood of more penalties.
Regardless…..GREAT WIN. The team is figuring out ways to win,instead of ways to lose. They are playing with confidence and a bit of swagger.
That was a 14-point turnaround. We recovered the fumble and were on the way to the end zone. Instead, the Colts scored immediately afterwards.
With Trent Cole, we had them stopped on 4th down. Again, the Colts go on to score. By the letter of the law, it’s a penalty, but he was going for the ball and only brushed Manning’s helmet. This is ridiculous.
Does’nt a quality Eagles win make the sun shine brighter, and world seem like a better place.
This team feeds off of Vick’s swagger courage and confidence. How many times in the past have we needed to get a 1st down. Even just 1 yard and could not do it. The power of life and death is in the tongue. (proverbs 18:21)
This team will crush Washington.
BSM
You came from the Word!!! What a man!
Yeah, I woke up with a smile and it’s only gotten bigger as the day moves forward.
Let me say this. I’ve read about Manning’s lack of weapons because of injury. Yesterday, Manning went up against a few rookies and replacements. They rose to the occasion and got the job done. They beat both Manning and the refs.
Besides, I seem to recall a certain Eagles QB who played without weapons for the majority of his career. There was no pity party for him.
Definitely a lot of bad/questionable calls that went against the Eagles in this one..
I am not sure how the secondary are to defend plays and make tackles at full speed anymore..
Anything caught in the middle of the field anymore is going to watched ever so closely and guys are flying full speed and once contac is made,who knows what direction the players and parts of the body are going to end up..
Now the Eagles need to enjoy this for the day,regroup and get heatlhy and prepare for the Redskins..
A win vs the Redskins catapoults them to the upper echelon in the NFC
Indianapolis Passing
Player Cmp Att Comp % Yds TDs Int
Manning 31 52 59.6 294 1 2
Philadelphia Passing
Player Cmp Att Comp % Yds TDs Int
M. Vick 17 29 58.6 218 1 0
Top 10 QB ratings as of today:
1 Michael Vick PHI 105.3
2 Vince Young TEN 103.1
3 Philip Rivers SD 102.9
4 David Garrard JAC 98.8
5 P. Manning IND 96.1
6 Tom Brady NE 95.7
7 Tony Romo DAL 94.9
8 Eli Manning NYG 92.7
8 Kyle Orton DEN 92.7
10 Drew Brees NO 91.7
Vick hasn’t thrown a pick all season. That’s pretty impressive.
I love the fact that Vick hasn’t been reckless with the ball!!! He’s a smarter Qb from when he was playing with the falcons! He’s matured no doubt about it! The birdz rushed not impressively but got the #’s to get the job done!!! With Vick up front the sky is the limit!!! Did you see the celebration on the on the sideline after the game was over! I’m sorry but Vick shows more emotion then Donnavan has had in his short stay in Philly so far! Thats my opinion! Goo Birdz…. It feels good here at work….. No Employees to Talk B.S. here LOL!
I think we need an entire article on the refs. That ‘running into the kicker’ call on the punter – somone please tell me the HD TV I was watching in the bar was screwed up cause in every replay the punter look like he flopped. How about the last false start on 3&2 late in the game – the replays I watched clearly showed the DL on the Colts yelling – anyone else see that – The D deserves a lot of credit – the refs handed the Colts two TDs……..
Did anyone see the picture of what looked like Jason Avant touching the pylon with the football –
I know the refs get evaluated on every play – a bunch of retired refs sit around and grade each of the seven refs on each play. I would love to see the grades after this. Do the grades get sent to the teams, does the league apologize to teams they completley screw over?
The NFL should pay closer attention to these penalties called on the field! That Trent Cole penalty was Bullshit at it’s best! The hit on Austin Collie was just a horrible call! He was not defenseless and it was a shoulder that caused him to drop the ball and created a concussion! These calls are dictating games and I believe the the NFL is becoming more like the NBA if you ask me! I’m going to become a Rugby Fan if they keep this bullshit up im serious! What about the face mask on Lesean McCoy that was never called! What about the sideline pushout on Michael Vick that was never called! If your Drew Brees or Tom Brady or Peyton Manning…. You get the special treatment by the officials to get penalties in there favor! Just bullshit! Vince Young a few weeks back got pile/drived into the grass and there was no call there! The certain faces of the NFL get special treatment! It’s sad! Thats my opinion!
Navyeaglefan! you are soo correct my man! The grade should be (excuse my french) A fuckin F…… These refs seem to be fans!!! Either there taking side bets among each other or Goddell has something up his sleeve!!! This is the NFL not the NBA…. Between this game and the Washington game were the worst calls i’ve seen. Reggie Wayne ran right into patterson and the refs keep the drive going on 3rd and long! What Dick Bags
No Int’s , That is indeed the most impressive Stat of all ,
It will be awful tough to keep the Eagles from Scoring Points if they continue not to turnover the ball.
Not lying Paul, That is great!!! Deshawn is getting more effective when Vicks in the game!!! What a weapon and a tag team they have become! Kolb loves Maclin and Vick loves Deshawn! LOL I wish that Celek can be more involved in the offense but he had to block more to prevent Mathis!!! We are comming for those Dead Skinz!!! LOL!!! Mcnabb no love this time bro! The eagles showed too much brotherly love last game!!! Its War now!!! It is what it is!! Go BIRDZZZ
The Birds beat the Colts as well as the referees. It speaks volumes they kept their heads and played 60 minutes of football.
That was some of the worse officiating I have every witnessed …. including Pop Warner games.
I usually don’t bash referees, but I got the funny feeling that they had big money on the Colts with the three points. Refs are human and make bad calls sometimes, but it usually evens out over the course of a game. Not this time.
at first i thought the nfl would do the right thing and only fine those that are clearly intentional! but i see now that that is not the case and this is ridiculous. The refs almost lost that game for us!! If we would have lost you would have had some pissed off fans. im not even gonna lie
And that hit on collie was legal i dont give a crap what anyone says. That was a good hard noise football hit! No head hunting on that. if anyone gets fined then we know where this is leading and its bullsh*t
we all need to get used to it..we have the jaded one a the helm in mike vick…all these refs look at vick like a criminal piece of shit….not as a guy who fukd up , paid the price and now making better life choices and is liveing life a different way…and i honestly do believe that, thats all true..vick got hit twice i can recall and no flags wer thrown…then The Golden boy gets grass wiped off his helmet by cole and we get a 15 yarder and almost costed us the game..because if they didnt throw the flag, then thats the game…
i always feel the refs flag the shit out of us because we are the eagles, because of us fans, and now we have mike vick…all the refs are retired lawyers, judges, doctors…there cut from a 24 karat gold cloth..and dont kno true meaning of a reformed individual…but wer philly baby we always had to fight adversity, struggle, always the under dog, and we love it..keep throwing ur p*ssy ass flags ref..because wer guna keep wiping our ass with them….because
PHILLY’S GUNA PICK THE WORLD UP AND DROP IT ON THERE FUKN HEAADDDSSS!!!
oh and the hit on collie…cmon refs..in pop warner ur taught, to see what u hit..coleman saw what he was hitting, his head was up, he didnt usethe crown of the helmet, he caught the rock, took two steps, got hit, fumbled by the way ..so erase one indy TD, he lowered his head to take the hit, so there fore he wasnt a defenseless receiver, he did catch and fumble the rok..once again we wer robbed….how about call a damn flag on dude who nearly ripped McCoys facemask off…ohh wait no…they cant its the beloved Colts..ppppsshhh. we stomped a mud puddle in the side of them…
Based on the definition of the ruffing the passer rule, the right call was made…But some how the refs need to be able to use some discretion…you have a helmet on, wtf? a smack to the helmet should not be a ruffing the passer…grabbing the facemask, helmet to helmet, shoulder to helmet…but a smack to the helmet, thats a little weak…I think its good that the league is trying to protect the players, but its becoming a little too sissified! Vince Young got slammed on his head by the Steelers, dont recall seeing a ruffing the passer call on that…which play was more dangerous?