Green Bay Packers receiver Randall Cobb blasted the Seattle Seahawks and defensive back Jeremy Lane specifically, for their dirty play on Sunday. As the Packers were taking a knee as time ran out in the game, Lane took a five-yard running start and knocked Cobb three yards backwards. Fortunately Cobb saw the attack coming just in time to at least get his arms up in an effort to protect himself.
https://twitter.com/packersinsider/status/808083069664198657
This thuggery merits further discipline by the league.
Earlier in the game, Richard Sherman blindsided Davante Adams with a vicious shot to the head and shoulder as Adams was jogging toward the action over on the other side of the field.
Richard Sherman and Davante Adams are NOT getting along right now. Looked like a cheap shot from Sherman. #GBvsSEA pic.twitter.com/R6yzSjUeLw
— Chat Sports (@ChatSports) December 11, 2016
Then, in the middle of the third quarter, as Green Bay was driving toward its fourth touchdown, Richard Rodgers took a short pass across the middle and was rammed in the helmet by hard-charging linebacker K.J. Wright. Rodgers was completely defenseless – it was the kind of collision that might have ended Rodgers’ career. Instead he held onto the ball and drew an unnecessary roughness flag.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf0NR4rjJSQ
The penalty moved the ball to the three-yard line, and Jordy Nelson caught a touchdown pass on the very next play.
Yet another cheap shot on Sunday was the one dealt by Cliff Avril against T.J. Lang, which we previously covered.
And let’s not forget, this isn’t the first time Wright has gone head-hunting against Richard Rodgers. Midway through the final quarter, as the Seahawks were losing to the Packers last year, Wright drove Rodgers into the ground after the play and ripped his helmet off. For this mayhem, Wright was fined $10,000 by the league and of course he appealed that penalty.
Here’s how Seahawks coach Pete Carroll saw last year’s play: “K.J. got locked up with the guy with his hand on his facemask as they were kind of going to the ground, and it was something we wish we wouldn’t have done.”
Wright himself offered this: “I’ve watched it a million times. I think the worst I should have gotten was a hands to the face and a 15-yard penalty.”
Whether the league will address Wright’s latest infraction remains to be seen. As I have previously advocated, intentional attempts to seriously injure deserve suspensions, not just a monetary fine.
Until the league meaningfully acts to deter dirty and dangerous play, Wright and a few dozen other thugs – many of them Wright’s teammates – are going to continue to put opponents at risk of permanently disabling and career-ending injuries.
The smackdown the Packers put on this mob of hoodlums and sore losers on Sunday couldn’t have happened to a more deserving team.