Hours After Kickoff: Week 9

And we thought Myron Pryor did the nation a favor.

It was the fourth quarter of last week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. On third and three, Pryor beat his blocker and landed a crushing hit on quarterback Brett Favre. It left Favre slow to get up and holding his chin. Favre was taken to the locker room and did not return to the game.

The sight of a trainer riding the golf cart while holding Favre’s chin probably made a lot of football fans rejoice: “Yes! Favre has a broken jaw! He won’t be able to talk! He won’t play next week!”

Fortunately for Favre, he suffered just a laceration to his chin and he will be fine. As for the knockout blow, it resulted in an incomplete pass. Replay after replay showed Pryor hit Favre in the chest. The penalty was for illegal contact in the end zone, and not the hit. By all indications, the hit was clean.

Or so we thought. Upon further review, Pryor’s blow on Favre violated the increased emphasis standard on helmet-to-helmet hits. Myron was fined $7,500 for the hit. LB Gary Guyton was also fined $7,500 for his own hit on Favre.

Welcome to the new NFL, folks. Like the personal conduct rules, you don’t have to violate a rule to be judged a lawbreaker. Even better is being done in by a man in front of a monitor and slow motion replays that exaggerates impacts. A player has no chance under these conditions.

This is exactly what I was concerned about when the league took action. By reacting so quickly, a nebulous set of guidelines of legal and illegal hits were improvised. The DVD sent out to all NFL teams that showed examples of what’s right and what’s wrong didn’t help either. Yet the players are expected to fall in line?

It’s bad enough having no clue of what’s an illegal hit. But to be judged from the leagues offices is an impossible handicap. Players are being fined on the result of the play instead of the play itself. If Favre bounced right back up after Pryor tagged him instead of leaving the sideline reclined in the bed of the golf cart with his eyes closed, do you think Pryor would be out $7,500?

This process is severely flawed. The NFL has good intentions, but having complete control over the standard and punishment without input from the players is ludicrous.

The two sides must get together after the season to write a clear and fair definition of what hits are legal and which hits cross the line. It needs to remove complete onus on the defenders and take into consideration for when a player moves his helmet into the defender’s approaching path. For this increased emphasis to be understood and respected by all, the standard must be clarified.

Last week I watched replays of Pryor’s hit closely. Besides admiring Myron’s hit, I thought to myself, “That hit looked clean to me.” If you did the same thing, think of it as a new enhancement to how we enjoy the NFL.

Can someone tell me the over/under on fines this week?

A few things I’m looking for:

It’s a Peyton: So what if his last name isn’t Manning? Hillis is a physical, productive runner. Cleveland will lean on him to take pressure off the rookie quarterback.

Jedi Mind Tricks: Head coach Bill Belichick used to own young passers with confounding defensive schemes. Time for Bill to show he still has it against Colt McCoy.

Wish I Was Special: Josh Cribbs earned a reputation as a dangerous punt returner. Brandon Tate is making a name as a kickoff returner. Either player can tilt the field with a big return.

New England won’t take Cleveland lightly. Belichick put the fear in his players by reminding them the Browns upset the Saints. The Patriots keep their guard up and win.