What Game Were the Officials and NBC Commentators Watching Last Night?

Jadeveon Clowney put his helmet on the neck and head of a diving Carson Wentz.  Seven officials saw nothing wrong with the hit, putting out a statement after the game that Wentz put himself in play by diving forward and that Clowney's contact with him was incidental to the play.  Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, together with sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya, missed the call entirely.  This dirty hit changed the game.  The Eagles had a good shot to win it with Carson Wentz on the field; without him, they had much less of a chance, despite trying hard to win the ball game.  The NBC crew went so far as to elegize Clowney for playing with injuries.  It was as if Wentz left the game because of a routine injury.

The officials missed the call.  The broadcasting crew should have called them out on it.  Instead, they did nothing.  So much so that they failed to discuss the impact the absence of Wentz had on the game.  The NFL, if it has any brains -- and that's questionable -- should do the following:  1) Clowney is done for the season and gets a heavy fine; and 2) this officiating crew is done for the season as well.

Let's compare this game to a match between English Premier League heavyweights Arsenal and Chelsea a few weeks ago.  Jorginho, a star midfielder for Chelsea, was on a yellow card when, in the second half, he grabbed an Arsenal player by his jersey and impeded his progress -- a second yellow card offense.  The referee -- Craig Pawson -- missed the call.  Arsenal had been up 1-0, and Jorginho ended up scoring a game-tying goal late in the match (Chelsea went on to score another goal to win 2-1).  Had Pawson made the obvious call, Jorginho gets a second yellow card and an ejection, and Chelsea is down to playing with ten men.  The odds are that with ten men Chelsea won not have won this match.  Perhaps, with their talent, they might have fought to a draw.  Pawson's bad decision cost Arsenal, and his penalty was that he was not give a match to referee the following week.

If the NFL were serious about this sort of thing, it would have a similar rule.  If a player gets ejected for flagrant conduct, he gets suspended for a few games and in the game itself, his team's unit has to play with one fewer player.  That type of penalty would put a stop to the egregious type of hit that Clowney put on Carson Wentz, thereby taking away the Eagles' best chance to win after a total of eight plays. 

Instead, the officials did nothing, and there is little hope in Philadelphia that either the officiating crew or Clowney will get disciplined.  And even if that happens, it is too little, too late.  Right now, in the NFL, it is worth having defensive players take aggressive shots at the quarterback.  In all likelihood, the officials might miss it or simply throw a flag for roughing the passer.  Sure, it's a fifteen-yard penalty and potentially a fine after the league office reviews the hit, but it's a smart cost of doing business.  After all, who wouldn't trade a 15-yard penalty and a $50,000 fine for the ability to knock the opposing team's starting quarterback out of the game and significantly increasing your team's chances of winning a game.  In all likehood, the hit will not draw a suspension for the next game.  Whether it's good sportsmanship or not, it's smart sports economics.  Seattle just might have lost that game in Philadelphia yesterday had Clowney not made his dirty hit.

So here's my proposal:

1.  Automatic ejection for hits like Clowney's.
2.  Three-game suspension and big fine.
3.  Team has to play one man short -- on all sides of the ball. 

That will stop dirty hits. 

And level the playing field after one occurs.