The Play In Question

From Foxboro, Mass.

It will be one of the most viewed plays of the first weekend of the NFL season. It figures to be replayed and replayed again.

And the discussion will start over whether Bernard Pollard’s hit on Tom Brady’s left knee was a cheap shot.

Some have already decided so. That includes Patriots WR Randy Moss, who didn’t see the play live, but saw the replay and he decided Pollard did something wrong.

Only problem is, the officials on the field and the officials in the press box ruled otherwise. Referee Carl Chaffers was leading this game’s crew and it’s his job to watch and protect the quarterback. He never reached for his flag. In the press box, I sat directly in front of Jerry Markbreit, former NFL referee and now part of the league evaluation crew that attends games and reports back on the officials. He spoke via phone with another NFL official and said the play was perfectly legal.

Here’s how the play came down. It was right at the halfway point of the first quarter and New England had the football with a first down at the Chiefs 42-yard line. The Patriots had picked up three first downs in the possession and were moving the football on the ground and through the air. The Chiefs were in a 3-2-6 defense for this play; where LB Demorrio Williams comes in and essentially becomes a fourth pass rusher, coming off the edge.

Before the snap, Pollard moved closer to the line of scrimmage and when the ball left the center’s hands, he made a bee-line for the gap between the guard and tackle on the right side of the Patriots pass protection. He was untouched until RB Sammy Morris picked him up on the rush after he was a good three yards behind the line of scrimmage. Morris went low and took Pollard off his feet and the pair went to the ground. Pollard continued struggling to move forward, crawling three or four yards on the ground with the blocker basically lying on his back. He was able to reach out and hit Brady on the front left side of his left knee just as the quarterback released the football.

Brady “screamed out” according to Pollard and the league’s reining MVP immediately grabbed at his left knee. He left the field with the help of two trainers and immediately went to the locker room. He was not seen again during or after the game.

Here’s what Moss had to say.

“I think it was dirty,” Moss said. “I didn’t really see anything; I was running down the field. When I came back in (and watched it), it looked dirty to me. I’ve never been a dirty player. I honestly don’t even know how to play dirty. I just play the game. Any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty. It opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty.”

Pollard was questioned about the play after the game and made it very plain there was nothing intentional in what he was trying to do while rushing Brady.

“People can call me a dirty player, you can call me whatever you want to call me; it’s not a dirty play,” Pollard said. “When you have 230 pounds on your back and you’re trying to go forward, things will happen. I saw the ball was still in his hands and I tried to get to him. I couldn’t get up, so I just tried to grab him. It was not an intentional play.”

In no way did the Chiefs or Pollard celebrate the results of the play.

“That sucks because he’s a great player,” said Pollard. “He’s a top-notch guy. I’m sorry and that’s immediately what I said afterward. I went to my coach and let him know ‘Coach, this was not intentional.’ Coach said ‘I know, I saw.’ My coach knows me and my teammates know me. I’ve never been a player like that, never been tagged as a player like that ever. It’s unfortunate.”

Early rumors out of Foxboro indicate it may be an ACL injury, but the Patriots won’t know for sure until an MRI test is done. Supposedly that will happen Monday morning, although it wouldn’t surprise anyone if that test was done Sunday evening. Boston media was reporting that former Tampa Bay QB Chris Simms was already headed to New England for a Monday physical and workout.