“We look at that hit and it’s not a technique that we want in the game,” Blandino told reporters at the NFL Owners Meetings in Boca Raton, Fla. “For the defensive player, it’s not about angles. It’s about lower the head and using the crown of the helmet.
“So outside the tackle box, that hit will become a foul,” Blandino continued. “So forceful contact, clear crown, regardless of whether there’s angles involved for the defensive player.”
Shazier’s hit on Bernard came late in the third quarter with the Bengals trailing 15-0 and facing a third-and-9 at the Pittsburgh 23. AJ McCarron threw a short pass in the flat, and just as Bernard caught the ball Shazier lowered his head and led with the crown of his helmet.
The hit forced a fumble that Shazier recovered, and knocked Bernard out of the game with a concussion.
When the NFL first outlawed leading with the crown of the helmet prior to the 2014 season, it was specified that a player – offensive or defensive – had to line up his opponent before lowering his head and delivering the hit.
“The way the rule was put in, there was some concern that we were going to have a real spike in penalties, and that didn’t play out that way,” Blandino said. “The direction to our game officials was very specific in the three elements to that rule. You have to line up your opponent, lower the head and use the crown of the helmet to make forceful contact. So it really had to be two players moving in the same direction. And if there were angles involved, it wasn’t a foul.”
Under the new interpretation of the rule, an offensive player still will need to line up his opponent to draw a penalty, but will not be the case for defensive players.
“We still feel that the offensive player, the runner, in many instances is ducking to protect himself so we want to see that line up for the runner and that player who has maybe other options, rather than lining up his opponent,” Blandino said. “But the defensive player, the direction to our game officials will be forceful contact, lowering the head, using the crown regardless of whether is an angle involved, it will be a foul.”
The two officiating errors from the wild-card game that Blandino previously addressed were Pittsburgh wide receiver Martavis Bryant’s’ acrobatic touchdown reception in the third quarter, which Blandino said should have been ruled incomplete, and the lack of a flag on Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter for being on the field in the closing seconds. Had Porter been flagged, it would have offset cornerback Adam Jones’ unsportsmanlike penalty, which would have made Chris Boswell’s game-winning field goal attempt 50 yards instead of 35.
The Shazier hit marks the third time in the last 10 years a hit by a Pittsburgh player against Cincinnati has resulted in a rule change.
The NFL outlawed defensive players going low to sack the quarterback following Kimo von Oelhoffen’s ACL-tearing hit on quarterback Carson Palmer in the a 2006 wild-card game. And the league made blindside blocks a penalty after Hines Ward broke Keith Rivers’ jaw with one in 2008.
And in 2013, Blandino said Pittsburgh linebacker Terence Garvin should have been penalized for his block that broke the jaw and ended the season of Cincinnati punter Kevin Huber.
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