No one was safe from the NFL’s new helmet rule during Friday night’s game between the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets.
Every facet of the game was affected: defense, offense and special teams. A penalty showed up in each.
“I’m anxious to go back and look at those,” Atlanta coach Dan Quinn said.
The rule first struck specials teams in the opening quarter, well before the Jets closed out the Falcons 17-0 at MetLife Stadium.
After the Jets scored their first touchdown, Atlanta running back Ito Smith returned the kickoff 25 yards before being stopped by Buster Skrine. Once he was down, everyone got up and moved on — until they were reminded that before the whistle blew there was a flag on the play. It was specifically against Skrine, who left the game afterward with a shoulder injury. The officials moved the ball up 15 yards.
That was the first of the three calls, a significant amount considering they all came in the first half. The penalty was for “lowering the head to initiate contact.” Key word: contact.
Two plays after the first penalty, still in the first quarter, Falcons wide receiver Reggie Davis caught a pass and was pushed out of bounds to end the play. There was another flag for a helmet penalty, on Smith — and he was on offense.
“I knew that could happen,” Quinn said. “I probably was surprised it happened on a pass play by a blocker. If that’s going