Back to the Philadelphia Eagles Newsfeed

Smallwood: NFL needs a crackdown on helmet-to-helmet hits

IF YOU WATCH college football regularly, you have seen instances when officials have used replay to review blows to the upper body to determine whether it constituted targeting.

It doesn’t take a lot of time, and if the offending player is found guilty of targeting, he is ejected from the game.

The NFL also has a rule against targeting. It just doesn’t have nearly has much bite. It is 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Most of the discussion concerning the vicious helmet-to-helmet hit Atlanta Falcons safety Keanu Neal laid on Eagles receiver Jordan Matthews in Sunday’s game is that the officials missed an obvious penalty.