I didn’t get to watch the Pats-Bills live, but they’ve been showing highlights of the play on which J.P. Losman got his knee injured in the typical Monday injury reports. None of the talking-heads has commented on it, but it looked to me, pretty clearly at that, that the New England tackler (I think the number was #74, who is OG Billy Yates, which seems odd) went out of his way to throw his elbow at Losman’s exposed knee.
What was the in-game coverage of that play, and has there been any discussion of it since?
There was a bit of in-game discussion. My interpretation of what happened is that the rusher (Wilfork, not Yates) was tripped up as he came toward Losman, and fell headlong onto Losman’s knee. What I can’t figure out is whether he put his arm out to break his fall, or purposely went for Losman’s knee. Maybe it’s a little of both.
In the paper this morning, Wilfork admitted it was a late hit, below the waist, and expected to get fined for it. “It is what it is,” he said.
Watch that and tell me that there’s anything accidental about Wilfork elbowing him in the knee. The more I watch it, the more certain I am that it was a slimy, dirty play.
Looks cheap in slow motion. But in the real speed of the game he’s getting pulled down my his legs, with tremendous forward momentum, and puts his one arm out to break his fall since he’s falling to his side.
These are split second reactions. His intend for the whole play was to get to the quarterback but was dragged down; was it a late hit as he was already falling? Yes, but was he trying to hurt the guy, I don’t know. I’d like to think no.
If he’s breaking his fall, he’s doing it with Losman’s knee. Watch the rest of Wilfork’s body hit the turf, yet his right elbow remains against Losman’s knee and his forearm and hand stay elevated. Yes, he’s falling on his right side yet his right hand appears to be one of the last things to make contact with the turf.
In the past he’s been accused (by an opponent) of kicking a player on the ground and of a behind the play blindside that resulted in a concussion.
Not the best visual evidence so it’ll be interesting to see what the league decision will be.
I’m surprised there hasn’t been more of an uproar over this. This is as bad as anything I ever saw Romanowski pull. With everyone eager to hate on the Pats these days I figured this would have been another of the totems. As far as I can tell the ESPN guys have universally ignored it. The league hasn;t really said or done anything and I haven’t heard anyone out of the Bills camp making any noise. I suppose they could be going the diplomatic route and filing their grievances quietly to the league office, but wow, that was dirty.
Anyone know if there was a flag on the play? It was both a late hit and an illegal hit, yet I haven’t heard mention if it was penalized.
Wilfork should be suspended for as long as Losman is out. Any player deemed to have maliciously caused injury like this should face the same punishment.
Reading that article it sounds like, at least in some circles, quite a bit is being made out of it being a cheap shot. That’s reassuring. I don’t buy Wilfork’s excuse at all. You don’t tackle with your elbows and you don’t break your fall by extending your elbow. The fine is peanuts. The fact that it was the first play of the game makes it look downright tactical.
I doubt it was tactical. Speaking as a Bills fan, there’s really no harm done in taking out Losman, especially if the person doing it is a fugging Patriot. So basically, it was not only a cheap shot, it was an unnecessary cheap shot.