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I missed the game but read that on Winfields INT that JA laid a huge cheap shot on a Bears OL that knocked him out of the game? Did anyone see that? If it is true then I lost a lot of respect for him. He failed to even lay a hand on Cutler after the bears LT gave up 5.5 last week and then he does that sort of thing? That is something a Lion would do.
I would say it was a cheap shot in that he launched himself and put more force into the block than he needed to. Mostly I think it was due to frustration. Frustrated that the Vikings were getting killed at the time and frustrated that he himself wasn't even getting a sniff of Cutler the entire game. If it had been against the Saints I wouldn't have considered it a cheap shot.
It was a cheap shot but I haven't lost respect for him. As Reign said above I think he lost his head in a moment of frustration. That's not an excuse but I think he made a serious mistake in a moment of passion. Its not like he's a dirty player like Suh.
Speaking of Suh I saw him interviewed, by the NFL gang on ESPN, early in the season. They were very hard on him, as well they should have been, but he was humble, soft spoken, and seemed extremely apologetic about what he had done. He claimed it wouldn't happen again. I took him at his word as I'm always willing to give someone a second chance. But, after what he did on Thanksgiving (and I believe that was an intentional kick), I have lost any respect at all for him. He's just dirty.
The guy he nailed was guard Lance Lewis. Apparently the he sustained a knee injury and will be out for the season. Here's more info with video of the hit:
Lovie Smith unhappy with Jared Allen block on lineman - NFL.com
I think that, if JA had not left his feet while in the process of hitting him, it would have been a clean, "slobberknocker" block. The fact that he left his feet and launched into Louis makes the hit illegal in my opinion. I sense that JA did not want to injure Louis, but at real game speed, things happen so quickly that things can go wrong.
Seems like a fine could be in order here for JA.
I have forgiven JA for the hit, and have not lost any respect for him. He's one of my favorite players on the team!
Love Jared Allen. Great player, funny guy, and he's done a ton for vets. I'll probably always have a man crush on him.
That being said, that hit was cheap and dirty.
Maybe we should just put flags on them to get rid of all this unnecessary hitting.
I wouldn't call it "cheap". It was a hit that is NOW considered illegal, but one which a few years ago would have been on a "greatest hits" reel.
Caine
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricTheViking
Thanks for the link.
Without seeing the video I was under the impression he took out his knee with a block from behind. After seeing it my feeling is that JA was actually in front of him and gave the guy plenty of ability to see him and prepare for the hit so from that aspect I don't think it was dirty but OTOH he did really target the head/neck area and that is a big no-no so he probably gets a call from the league on it.
I do feel better about it after seeing the video but I am not hppy he went up towards the head with that shot.