Pittsburgh Steelers LB James Harrison found himself at a vexing loss after Sunday's 35-3 throttling of the Oakland Raiders. The 2008 Defensive Player of the Year still doesn't know what is and isn't a legal hit after being called for his fifth personal foul this season when Harrison planted Raiders QB Jason Campbell in the Heinz Field turf as Campbell threw a third-quarter pbutt. Not only did the ensuing 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty wipe out cornerback Ike Taylor's apparent 16-yard, third-quarter INT return for a TD, it left Harrison's teammates feeling concern for him. Harrison finished with five tackles, two sacks, an INT, a forced fumble and a cloud of doubt still hovering over him. "The call on James was an unfortunate call that took back a TD on defense. I really don't think it was a bad hit,'' LB James Farrior said. "No doubt about it, James Harrison is more confused than ever. I don't know what's going through his mind right now. "It seems like he can't do anything right. It's getting bad." Harrison insisted his hit on Campbell was within the rules -- a legal wrap-up form tackle. "I'm playing within the rules of the game as far as I'm concerned,'' Harrison said. "I don't think there's enough of them (former players who review and determine illegal hits) up there that have played the game. They say they have guys up here in New York that have played the game. "They have Merton Hanks. The game's a lot faster now then it was when he played. I play linebacker. Things happen a lot faster when you're closer to the line of scrimmage than when you're a safety like he was. "We were playing the way we play 'Steelers ball.' That's fast and hard,'' Harrison said. Source: USA Today
Fast and hard and dirty **********Automerged Doublepost********** ...and then whining about it after the fact.
Tough to tell because of the slo-mo, but to me that looked like a penalty. He did drive him into the ground and I think he could have stopped his momentum so that he wouldn't drive him into the ground. Again, it's tough to say for sure because it's in slow-mo. Not that it mattered in the game anyway. Just another reason for James Harrison to run his mouth...
That kind of hit happens multiple times in every game. It's not an illegal hit and it did effect the game. Taylor had a pick 6 on that play.
Not quite. Boley hit through him, Harrison did more of a lift and spike move. Again it's ticky tack but being that Harrison is under the microscope everything that is a close call is going to go against him.
Harrison's arms were not wrapped at the end of the hit and he landed on him. Boley's arms were wrapped and he landed on him. The only difference was Harrison hit square and straight on and Boley was at an angle and maybe a little later than Harrison's. Point being that these hits happen every weekend and flags aren't thrown...like you said mj, ticky tacky...and in most cases, not a penalty unless it's late.
Which is unfair. Every player and every team should be under the same microscope if we are looking for consistency in the league.
So the Steelers scored 35 instead of 42. Yeah, sorry, that made a huge difference. Pittsburgh fans will be calling for Goodell's head. :icon_rolleyes:
Point is, it's a call that effects the game. Not the outcome, but what happens when it does? Take off the purple glasses and look at it objectively. I honestly don't care if it's Harrison or Ray Lewis or Mario Williams or whomever it is. The call is a bad call period.
Bullcrap call. He wasn't defenseless. It wasn't helmet to helmet. But hitting a quarterback this hard and driving him to the ground is going to draw a penalty in today's NFL, crapty as it may be.
