Rule Clarification:

I think Michaels and Madden were saying yesterday that the helmet to helmet hit was valid because by then Gardner was a runner, not a receiver so helmet to helmet is allowed. First I'd heard of that rule

I could be wrong, but I sure thought helmet-to-helmet penalties only applied to hits on the QB. They have a LOT of special rules for the QB, because they see him as a sitting duck.

First I'd point out Coles dislocated his finger on one of his drops and popped it back in (with a little help) then went out there and carried on playing (according to JG's press conference). Whilst maybe not a great idea, considering he dropped at least one more pass after that, I have to give him respect for his toughness. I've seen guys come off the field with dislocations first hand and believe me it can have an effect on the sideline seeing a guy come off with his hand looking like a swiss army knife! Almost made me sick the one time.

Second I think the helmet to helmet thing needs clarifying. As I understand it there are 3 situations a player gets called for helmet contact:
1) Spearing - using the crown of the helmet to inflict a hit. This is both stupid and dangerous for both parties, hence the rule (and fines).
2) Deliberate helmet to helmet contact with a QB, regardless of the manner of the tackle.
3) Deliberate helmet to helmet contact with no attempt to make an arm tackle (i.e. leading with your head).

None of these apply as I saw it to Gardners last catch as the defenders were attempting to tackle him. The helmet to helmet was more incidental than intended.

Thanks for the explanation, Mouse. Both 1 & 3 sound like spearing. So I guess the QB DOES get special consideration on that.

I feel kinda iffy about that last hit by williams cuz it wasn't terribly blatant but on the other hand he could have easily had a personal foul for a helmet to helmet hit or launching himself (atleast I think that's still a foul.) I just wish the last pass had been a little more outside like that 49 yard connection on the previous drive and that way gardner could have fallen out of bounds and stopped the clock. All that being said it was the combination of 90% bad officiating and 10% bad play calling/clock management. But after the teams performance against one of the top rated defenses in the league, I am starting to have some faith in our offense coming together sooner rather than later.

I heard someone (I think it was Don Warren on the Comcast post-game show) talking about how the helmet-to-helmet hit was illegal because Williams left his feet and "launched" himself at Rod. Seems to me, I remember them penalizing Lavar for the same type of hit a couple of years ago. Yeah it should have been called, but really it shouldn't have come down to that....

We'll see if it draws a fine.

It probably won't though, I mean c'mon it's not like he grabbed the facemask or anything, that would definitely be a fine especially if it was LaVar. ;)