Dallas v. Washington

[oncelost77]

Originally Posted by AllPurposeGamer

I agree wholeheartdly...the Landry hit was clearly legal.

NFL Rules Book (2011)

Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9

(b) Prohibited contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture is:

(1) Forcibly hitting the defenseless player’s head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm, or shoulder, regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him; and

(2) Lowering the head and making forcible contact with the top/crown or forehead/”hairline” parts of the helmet against any part of the defenseless player’s body.

Note: The provisions of (2) do not prohibit incidental contact by the mask or helmet in the course of a conventional tackle on an opponent

Based on that, it seems that it fits perfectly into part 2, unless you feel it was incidental. Did the crown or forehead hit the defenseless player's body? He lowered his head, and made forcible contact with the crown/forehead part of his helmet. Thanks for the rule clarity. His arms and shoulders following through were incidental to the helmet contact, imho.