On a second and 10 midway through the fourth quarter from the Pittsburgh 18, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense pulled off a well-timed, perfectly executed safety blitz with star Minkah Fitzpatrick, getting him a lane unimpeded to Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Fitzpatrick was able to sack Garoppolo for a loss of six yards, putting the Raiders in what should have been a third and 16, potentially changing the game entirely and all but locking it up for the Steelers.
Yet, it all changed quickly as a flag came in late. Fitzpatrick was called for roughing the passer due to supposedly hitting Garoppolo in the helmet, wiping out the big sack and giving the Raiders a first down inside the 10-yard line.
Las Vegas went on to score a touchdown and convert the two-point conversion, giving them life in the fourth quarter before the Steelers ultimately held on to win.
The hit and subsequent penalty has led to some serious discussions in the last few days. For San Francisco 49ers star linebacker Fred Warner, a former teammate of Garoppolo’s, the flag on Fitzpatrick is just another example of the league pushing the game further and further towards flag football.
Appearing on his podcast with The 33rd Team, “The Warner House,” Warner defended Fitzpatrick’s hit and stated his concern for the league moving forward.
“There’s so many different rules now with unnecessary roughness, targeting and all this other stuff…they basically are trying to slowly turn the game into flag football a little bit,” Warner said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “They want to get all the physicality out of the game, even though that’s what attracts people to the game, guys wearing helmets and pads and stuff, hitting each other.
“…if you slow it [the replay] down, yeah, it looks like his helmet hit Jimmy’s helmet, but it really wasn’t helmet-to-helmet. The rules are just so finicky now, and that’s unfortunate for him [Fitzpatrick]. But that’s how the game is now.”
As Warner stated, that’s how the game is now, unfortunately.
One week ago, Fitzpatrick was under fire and had his character questioned on social media for his tackle on Cleveland running back Nick Chubb. He went low to chop the legs out from underneath a big, powerful running back. That’s what the league wants now instead of defenders going high. It led to an ugly injury.
Then, against the Raiders, Fitzpatrick went for the textbook tackle in space, leading with his shoulder, making contact at the shoulder with Garoppolo and seeing what he hit with his eyes and head up. It still wasn’t “legal” in the rulebook.
Former NFL referee Gene Steratore stated on the 102.5 WDVE morning show earlier in the week that the correct call was made, but that a “philosophical discussion” regarding the protection of quarterbacks needs to be had.
It’s hard to agree that the correct call was made. Fitzpatrick did everything right and by the book. But as Warner stated, everything is so finicky now and up to interpretation that it’s changing the game week to week.
Hopefully Fitzpatrick’s wallet isn’t lighter this week due to a ridiculous call in a big spot in the game.
