Last in the first quarter of Sunday night’s game between the Broncos and Colts, Indy kicked off to Denver and Trindon Holliday reeled off a 56-yard return.
The return ended when Pat McAfee applied a helmet-to-helmet to Holliday, flattening the diminutive return specialist.
McAfee’s hit was helmet to helmet, but no penalty was called. And no fine should be imposed, for two reasons.
First, Holliday wasn’t defenseless, so he can be hit in the helmet/neck area and with a helmet. Second, McAfee didn’t use the top of his helmet when hitting Holliday.
Here’s the video. The new “crown of the helmet” rule applies only when the top of the helmet is used like a battering ram. That didn’t happen.
No penalty for McAfee, and there should be no fine.