Among all of the injuries sustained by the Detroit Lions following their Week 3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, the helmet-to-helmet collision between safety Brian Branch and Cardinals tight end Trey McBride was unquestionably the scariest.
Both players exited the game with concussions, and while McBride will miss Arizona’s game on Sunday, Branch appeared to be cleared for Monday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks before being downgraded to doubtful on Sunday morning.
Saturday is the day the NFL imposes punishments for improper activities during the previous week. On the field, such behaviours are rarely, if ever, penalized. Another point of contention is how the league office calculates the fine amounts. There doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason to that process, except if someone is a repeat offender of the same infringement and so faces a greater fine.
The Lions received four fines for actions taken during Week 3. Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin was fined $11,255 for a late hit, while safety Kerby Joseph was fined $7,505 for a late hit on a defenceless player as Terrion Arnold was tackling Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Reeves-Maybin received a merited unnecessary roughness penalty, however Joseph was not penalized.
Brian Branch fined for hitting Trey McBride
Branch was fined $10,128 for two hits in the game against Arizona. One was for striking/kicking/kneeing an opponent, who seemed to be Cardinals rookie tight end Tip Reiman, during Matt Prater’s 42-yard field goal near the conclusion of the first half.
The other fine was for the aforementioned hit on McBride.
McBride was not punished despite plainly lowering his head to initiate contact, which the league has tried to legislate out of the game and generally enforces. According to Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit, the rule book makes no distinction between offensive and defensive players in terms of inappropriate helmet wear.
ARTICLE 10: IMPOSSIBLE USE OF THE HELMET. A foul occurs when a player:
(a) lowers his head and makes violent contact with an opponent using his helmet; or
b) uses any part of his helmet or facemask to butt or make forced contact with an opponent’s head or neck. These regulations do not prohibit inadvertent contact between the mask and helmet during a typical tackle or block on an opponent.”
That’s not to suggest Branch didn’t commit a violation. However, if he was penalized retroactively despite the fact that there was no penalty on the play, McBride was as well. An appeal with such as the basis appears likely.
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