Harrison Late hit vs. Watt late hit

Why did Harrison get penalized, and JJ Watt not for the two late hits on Ben?

 

He did that torque move that he does to add a little more umph to the ground impact, while Watt got up and looked like he was sorry with his hand out feeling guilty. They let him go since he's the media darling. McClendon was penalized for the same thing a few weeks ago, but different officials...

 

I only recall one late hit from Watt. I don't recall the 2nd one.

In the case of Watt, I recall him following through with his pursuit of Ben and hitting him after the ball was gone. Late hit? Yeah, a bit, but it was all momentum and follow through. In Harrison's case, the ball was gone, then Harrison grabs the QB and throws him to the ground. It could be argued that JJ Watt's late hit was due to momentum and in real time he had milliseconds to stop. In Harrison's case, his action of throwing the QB to the ground occurred after the ball was gone. There was no momentum for him to stop.

That's how I saw it, but hey, this is a Steelers site so I fully expect almost everyone to disagree with me

 

Issue is momentum doesn't matter, neither does how you ended up hitting the QB there. As I said before when McClendon was penalized and fined he was clearly held which made him slip and fall, but it doesn't matter and he was penalized/fined.

 

Short answer: Reputation. Haven't clocked them both, but seemed pretty similar.
JJ Watt is the media boy. JH is the poster boy.

I took issue of this on my weekly thoughts: http://thesteelersfans.com/3660/lessons-week-7-wwws-thoughts/

If you have a chance to look at both plays in slow motion, watch if the defensive players are aware of when the QB has released the football in each case.

 

Not sure I can agree... JH's was more agro in my book and more clearly after the release with intent.

My bigger concern is with Watt's shot at Ben's knees... I though those kinds of hits against qbs were illegal

 

Didn't Worlids hit a QB low, after being pushed down, in which he apologized, but was still flagged? I don't see any difference between that and when Watt his Ben low. Watt should have been flagged, I don't care if it was Ben or Brady.

 

Was it Worilds? I thought it was McClendon. And you are right he got up helped him up and apologized, but it was penalized and he was fined for it. Watt knew he had done wrong as he looks up searching for the flag with his hand out after contact.

 

I have zero problem with what Harrison did. They really didn't need the 15 yard penalty extending the Texans drive but it did send a message to them that said you can't hit our guy late and then awe shucks it without us getting even. It's something that has been missing lately.

Shaner I don't take issue with anything you said except for the momentum part. Several Steelers were flagged this year for hitting defenseless receivers where the league expected them to control their momentum to the point of stopping the hit. So the same applies to Watt, even a guy who is in the running for league MVP and shoe in for DPOY has to play by the same rules. If it is a penalty for one it should be for all.

 

I wonder how much Goodell will fine him this time????

 

Especially when you go out of your way to take an anti-Steelers stance.

Not that I'm accusing you of that here. You have a valid opinion. But... The plays are very similar, and here's why:

Harrison threw FitzPatrick down even though he saw the ball leave. That's a penalty. Not a fine, but a flag. Good call.

Watt crashed into Ben's knee area after he saw the ball leave. In this situation, if he had been blocked or pushed into Ben, he could get off the hook. But he was just running, and fell/dived into his knees. There's no "his momentum made him do it" when he did it all by himself. He created that momentum, just like James. Accident or not, that's a penalty. Has been since Tom Brady tore his ACL. Even if Watt truly didn't mean it, it's no different than an accidental grasp of the facemask or false start. Intentions often mean nothing.

Both should have been penalized. I'm not ready to call conspiracy on the refs (although it's VERY possible reputation played a role, like it often does). But it's definitely conspiracy on the part of the announcers! "Let's look at J.J. Watt chasing Ben... [sees the clear penalty on replay] ...uh... moving on..."

Watt's one of the best players in the NFL, but I do hate when they get special treatment. Ah well, I'm used to it.

 

Gruden brought it up after the one replay and said something about Ben getting hit in the "Leg", but that was it. He was all over Watt's jock all night, but he did call out a few officiating mistakes especially after Browns overturned call.

 

I didn't mean a bias against the Steelers, I meant a bias in favor of Watt. Harrison does a late hit, they say, "yep, that's a penalty." Watt does it, and they say, "Looks like Ben's leg got hurt on that play... somehow..."

 

ben doesn't get the calls like other qb's. never has.

 

I had no problem with the Watt hit. I don't think that is worthy of a flag and I think they should stop calling. I understand that it should have been called but it's a BS call IMO

 

yes it would have been a bs call but it is the rules, so why not for ben? no consistency in the calls makes it tough for players in the heat of the moment.

 

And it's well accepted that Ben doesn't get the calls some of the other QB's get. How does a QB get his nose broken and no penalty called and another one trips over a guy and a flag is thrown?

 

When his nose was broken that was a different story. I don't think Watt was trying to drive Ben to the ground after the ball was out of his hands. I don't he was trying to hurt his legs, he was diving at the QB and could not stop his motion. Harrison spun the QB and power drove him to the turf. He could have let him go but did not. Yes Ben does not get some of the calls he should but bigger mobile QB's dont and the league has been that way. Yes the calls should go both ways and it is a pain in the butt when we don't get them. The problem is the consistency of the calls. And unless the same ref is calling it every time then we will never have consistency.

 

Intent doesn't factor into this. It doesn't matter if Watt intended to hit him in the knees or bring him sugar plum fairiesand unicorns, the rule is no contact between the waist and knees. Same for the broken nose, the rule is clear you can't hit the QB in the head even if you are going for the ball and graze the QB's helmet. It's still a penalty. These are pretty cut and dry without any grey area so there should be plenty of consistency because intent isn't a factor hit the QB in the knees penalty end of story

 

I agree and I don't get what's so hard to grasp about it.