In the aftermath of the Bengals’ 20-19 loss to the Cowboys, Bengals safety Reggie Nelson was furious about being penalized for a hit that dislodged the ball from Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant’s hands.
Nelson complained that he delivered a textbook hit without leading with his head or hitting Bryant in the helmet and a review of the play makes it hard to disagree with that opinion. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis had a hard time understanding what Nelson did wrong and said after the game that he thought the league should teach people to hit the way Nelson hit Bryant.
“I thought it was a great target and probably one that will be on their teaching reel of how to do it,” Lewis said. “Reggie’s done a good job with those things. He was on their teaching reel last year, and I thought that one was picture perfect.”
We’re not sure if the league will put the hit on their training reel, but we do know they won’t be taking any money out of Nelson’s pocket. Nelson wasn’t fined by the league this week as a result of the hit, which is a good thing since he never should have been penalized in the first place.