Written by Brad Gagnon at Bloguin
It was one of the first things you heard after St. Louis Rams cornerback Lamarcus Joyner knocked Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater out with what at the time was ruled an illegal hit — or officially an act of “unnecessary roughness” — Sunday in Minneapolis.
Fox play-by-play man Thom Brennaman declared that it was “a dirty play,” and few have disputed that claim since.
But was it?
Yes, defenders are expected to pull up as soon as quarterbacks give themselves up with a slide, but the reality in this extremely fast-paced, hard-hitting game is that doing so is sometimes simply impossible.
Unfortunately, I think a lot of people fail to understand how hard it is to reverse momentum in those moments. We look at a replay from our couches and criticize these guys for moments that are often impossible to completely control. I don’t think Joyner could have done anything more to slow his own momentum.
And yes, his elbow appeared to contact Bridgewater’s head, but…
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