During the first quarter of Thursday night’s game between the Steelers and Eagles, Philadelphia cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie launched at Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich, hitting Leftwich in the head after Leftwich had thrown the ball.
Rodgers-Cromartie correctly was flagged for unnecessary roughness.
He soon will correctly be fined.
The launching made the outcome more flagrant than the run-of-the-mill helmet-to-helmet hit on defenseless players. In fact, it could have justified an ejection.
If the league is serious about removing such dangerous blows from the game, it arguably merits a one-game suspension.