People are buying into the media narrative..

[BeepBeepWoo]

(01-11-2016, 12:38 AM)Shepdawg Wrote: Lets look at the hit.  

Can you say with any degree of certainty (not already knowing the outcome) that Antonio Brown, the player with more receptions over the past 3 seasons than any other player in the history of the NFL over any 3 year span, does not make this catch?  If you didn't know the outcome, would you or would you not think there is a good likelihood the catch was going to be made?



Advancing the film a few frames, less than a second later you see Burfict coming toward Brown.  Note: Neither of Browns feet have yet to land on the ground, and Brown is in the upright position.  Also note that Brown was not stationary, but also moving in the direction of Burfict.  The ball is only a few feet past Brown at this point.



Advancing a few more frames to the moment of impact.  Note the ball is still in the air and hasn't moved much from the prior pic.  Also note that Brown is clearly lowering his head at this point and his 2nd foot has just landed on the ground.  Had Brown not ducked his head, it's a shoulder to chest hit on a player that has a really good chance that he caught the ball.



From another angle, you can see that before the ball is even to Brown, Burfict is preparing to make the tackle.



Here is another angle of the split second before the actual impact.  Note the position of both players and where the ball is.  Merely 4 yards beyond Brown.  Note that Brown's left foot has not yet landed on the ground, you can clearly see his yellow cleat in the picture.  How long do you think it takes a ball to travel 4 yards.  Tell me exactly what Burfict is supposed to do at this point to avoid contact.  Remember that Brown is also moving towards Burfict.

This dilemma is nothing new and on this very board many Bengals players said "too bad" in 2010-2011 when they started cracking down on these hits and this was brought up by other defenses. Burfict got burned by it this time,  but it's happened since they started cracking down on this stuff since then.
It might not have been intentional. It was illegal.