Two NFL games landed in the late afternoon window on Sunday: Packers-49ers and Cardinals-Rams.
Both were compelling, close games. Only one got much attention.
But the league office was paying close attention to all games. And several members of the Rams secondary likely will be hearing from the NFL.
At a minimum, cornerback Cortland Finnegan is destined to get a fine, or two. In the first half, he dove onto receiver Michael Floyd after Floyd clearly was down. In the second half, Finnegan hit receiver Larry Fitzgerald when he was well out of bounds.
Also in the first half, receiver Andre Roberts ended up on the wrong end of double helmet-to-helmet hit from safeties T.J. McDonald and Rodney McLeod. It’s unclear whether Roberts had lost the “defenseless receiver” protection by the time the impacts occurred. The league office is reviewing the play.
Finnegan’s hits need no review; the only question is the punishment. If McDonald and/or McLeod are fined, it’ll mean that the officials failed in real time to throw a flag.