The Detroit Lions-Los Angeles Rams Wild Card game last week was by far the greatest of the playoffs thus far, and it’s possible that they will keep the championship for a long time. The low hit that Lions safety Kerby Joseph delivered to Rams tight end Tyler Higbee, which caused him to tear both his ACL and MCL, ended up being the one aspect of the game that nobody liked.
Most rational individuals realize that Joseph’s decision to hit Higbee in the knees was less a conscious one and more a result of the NFL’s emphasis on banning high hits, which essentially compels defensive backs to drop back when facing large receivers who are racing across the middle. But football is an emotional sport, and the hit certainly inflamed fans. In particular, Matthew Stafford, who was shown on the broadcast later shoving Kerby in the face.
The NFL mic’d up the game on Wednesday, so we could finally hear what Stafford was saying to the Lions safety. The message seemed a little… contradictory. After complimenting Kerby on the hit, the Rams quarterback called him “dirty as f—” and said that the tape had the evidence.
Stafford appears to be arguing that the hit was lawful but nevertheless immoral. which is the viewpoint you would anticipate the team’s quarterback to hold. It seemed strange to start off by calling it a good hit when he was obviously angry but also quite excited.
Although it is tedious to keep talking about this, the league is to blame, and unless anything is done to address it, the same thing will continue to occur. I’m not sure what it is.
Cris Collinsworth mentioned on the Sunday Night Football broadcast that players would prefer to avoid low hits over helmet-to-helmet hits because they would rather risk a concussion than have to endure the nine-month recovery period that comes with a torn ligament in their knee. Although there aren’t many options, it doesn’t seem ideal to accept that preference and adjust the regulations accordingly. Since football is a violent game, when these big people go at each other at full speed, someone is going to get harmed.
Stafford is correct that the strike is lawful, but is it dirty? When you take emotion out of the picture, it’s difficult to call it that.
