Brandon Spikes Hits to the Head on Fred Jackson and Fitzpatrick

[SeymourTrophies]

Fitzpatrick was right on calling out Spikes, he can be a punk at times, if people can't see that then they are blind . . . i am not a fan of this kind of play but i will reluctantly take it to have spikes on the team . . . he makes many knock out blows which have dislodged the ball from the players and many of of them are of the legal mano mano shoulder into teh brest bone area, which are fine by me and twice on Sunday. . .

but when the helmit is used as a weapon and comes down onto the other helmit and head of the opponents QB (the fitz hit) or if a shoulder/arm/what ever, drives into the neck head region of an opponent ( jackson hit) I am against it 100%

not sure how long some of you have been pats fans, but we need to treat our players the same way we view our opponents players . . . and if we are going to get on Pollard for the helmit to Brady's knee or Tatum shoulder into the head of Stingley (which paralized him) we cant go all ra ra about Spikes . . .

i love me some spikes and so glad his is on our team and is the enforcer in the middles and really love the crushing hits to the chest that knockes out the opponents, but i draw a line, and call it like it is, when it comes to the above two mentioned hits . . .

The way you refer to Spikes' hit on Fitz makes me wonder if we're talking about the same play. In no way is diving at the knees or doing what Ryan Clark and James Harrison are known for on the same level as wrapping up the QB too high after trying to deflect a pass or putting shoulder to body.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Kind of reminds me of harrison in a way

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

i can only think of one dirty play is when he blind sided buffalo TE chandler with a block from behind. and the league fined him for that if i remember correctly. other than that, that guy has some made amazing tackles this year. he alone probably has 1/2 of the patriots forced fumbles.

Poorly picked words, sorry.

 

[Yehoodi]

The way you refer to Spikes' hit on Fitz makes me wonder if we're talking about the same play. In no way is diving at the knees or doing what Ryan Clark and James Harrison are known for on the same level as wrapping up the QB too high after trying to deflect a pass or putting shoulder to body.

here are a few links . . .

Ryan Fitzpatrick Is Right: Brandon Spikes Is A Punk - Buffalo Rumblings

Fitzpatrick calls Spikes a 'punk' after hit - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/sports/football/06stingley.html

I am sorry that I do not know how to cut and paste photos . . . as I stated in my earlier post i love me some spikes and love, even if they cause injury as a side effect, spikes mano mano hit to the chest that dispossess the ball from the opponent and puts them to sleep . . . and love the sand man label too . . . all cool in my book . . .

where I draw the line is the head contact . . . and having lost stingley for year due to a shot to the head region i am, and have been on many sites incudes the pitts fan sites, viligant about head shots and shots near the head . . . and yes clark and harrison are prime offenders . . .

for me the shot by spikes may not have been directly to the head, but it was in the area of the head . . .you can see from the links of jackson and stingly hits that the one who was hit is not in that dissimilar position after the hit, specifically the head pinched up against the shoulder . . .

as for the Fitz, not sure what all the defending is about, there is a video in one of the links and a still shot, with the later showing the clearly Fitzs helmet turned sideways at the start of the hit and well before they hit the ground, spikes kept his helmet there and landed on top of fitz with his helmet, well face mask, being the too with which Fittzs helmet came off . . .

if you can not see that than I can not really help you . . .

It is a CRYSTAL clear at the photographs and vidoes in the links . . .

and again i love me some spikes, but call it like it is, Tatum, Pollard, Clark, Harrison or Spikes, when a hit crossess the line it crosses the line . . .

 

[JMC00]

and again i love me some spikes, but call it like it is, Tatum, Pollard, Clark, Harrison or Spikes, when a hit crossess the line it crosses the line . . .

You're delusional. That hit on Fitzpatrick didn't cross the line. There was no possible way that the helmet to helmet contact could have been avoided the way they were positioned and at the force both were falling.

 

[Triwilla]

where I draw the line is the head contact . . . and having lost stingley for year due to a shot to the head region i am, and have been on many sites incudes the pitts fan sites, viligant about head shots and shots near the head . . . and yes clark and harrison are prime offenders . . .

for me the shot by spikes may not have been directly to the head, but it was in the area of the head . . .you can see from the links of jackson and stingly hits that the one who was hit is not in that dissimilar position after the hit, specifically the head pinched up against the shoulder . . .

as for the Fitz, not sure what all the defending is about, there is a video in one of the links and a still shot, with the later showing the clearly Fitzs helmet turned sideways at the start of the hit and well before they hit the ground, spikes kept his helmet there and landed on top of fitz with his helmet, well face mask, being the too with which Fittzs helmet came off . . .

if you can not see that than I can not really help you . . .

It is a CRYSTAL clear at the photographs and vidoes in the links . . .

and again i love me some spikes, but call it like it is, Tatum, Pollard, Clark, Harrison or Spikes, when a hit crossess the line it crosses the line . . .

Needless to say, noone like shots to the head, but I suspect Spikes doesn't appreciate Jackson delivering helmet hits to his teammates, so he basically wanted to punish Jackson for always lowering his head so much.
Spikes hit will hopefully make Jackson hesitate before spearing with his helmet next time. And other RBs may take notice as well...

I actually think the hit on Fitz was clean, as Spikes didn't lead with his helmet.
It will always look brutal when a guy like Spikes flies into a little sissy such as Fitz, even moreso when Fitz doesn't strap his helmet properly.
Reality is though, that will almost always draw a flag, so Spikes should probably be a little more careful around QBs.

 

[Yehoodi]

You're delusional. That hit on Fitzpatrick didn't cross the line. There was no possible way that the helmet to helmet contact could have been avoided the way they were positioned and at the force both were falling.

ah yes it can . . . when you approach the QB turn your head to the side or lower your shoulder so that your head misses the head of the QB . . . drive your head over the right or left shoulder of the QB, pick your side, and your facemask will pass his ear hole at opposed to hitting him square in his facemask . . . or pick any of the aboove

this i not that complicated and has been done many times by other players, I am not sure what the problem is understanding this concept . . .

if you dont think this is possible look to your own social life . . . when you meet someone and you want to embrace them and give them a hug . . . when you approach and embrace them does your forehead clank off the forehead of the person you have embraced in the hug? . . . or does your head pass by the other's and you hug and embrace with your head side by side cheek to cheek? My guess is that with you it is the latter . . . and if so then you know that it possible to come straight at another individual, wrap them up and run your head past thier head . . . now the exact details of how that is down structurely with teh human body nead not be detailed as we both know that we can do it, as it is basically second nature . . .

so bottom line if the human species is capable of embracing another human species in the social world without clanking forehaeads, then that same human species is capable to embracing a QB without clanking facemask . ..

simply put as you approach the QB, pick a shoulder and aim your head over that shoulder, embrace (tackle) the QB, . . .if upon falling Spikes rolls pass Fitz and shoulder pads contacts the facemask, that is an unavoidable consequence of football . . .but clanking faskmask is not and is a choice . . .

and no i am not delusional becuase when i give someone a hug i don't head butt them . . . i know how to embrace and wrapped another individual . . .

EDIT: if you want another text example of a tackle, remember Elvis Dumervil hit on brady a year or two ago when he came straight at him, had him lined up, and slightly stepped to the side and clocked him, decleted him, raised him in the air and landed him on the ground without putting all of his weight on him, he did not land with his dead wieght on brady . . .it was massive hit that could of result in a few different injuries and it cleaned Brady's clock . . . but it was clean (as of today's rules) hit on brady and was simply football . . . Spikes could of the done the same thing just do what is necessary to get his head to the side of Fitz and the result of the hit is clean even if has bad consequences . . .

 

[tuckeverlasting]

i'm just going to say what they'd say in buffy if this were brady.


" why are the ref's always protecting him. just put a skirt on'em"

 

[Yehoodi]

Needless to say, noone like shots to the head, but I suspect Spikes doesn't appreciate Jackson delivering helmet hits to his teammates, so he basically wanted to punish Jackson for always lowering his head so much.
Spikes hit will hopefully make Jackson hesitate before spearing with his helmet next time. And other RBs may take notice as well...

I actually think the hit on Fitz was clean, as Spikes didn't lead with his helmet.
It will always look brutal when a guy like Spikes flies into a little sissy such as Fitz, even moreso when Fitz doesn't strap his helmet properly.
Reality is though, that will almost always draw a flag, so Spikes should probably be a little more careful around QBs.

I hear you on the helmet hits of teh RB, or when the RB is leading with is helmet but more often than not the lead of the helmet is not to the helmet of the opponent and it is the RB whose head is taking the damage . .

as for spikes on Fitz i refer you to my prior post . . . spikes could have avoided the facemask to facemask hit . . .

 

[Kontradiction]

But he's our dirty player and we love him!

Seriously though, he hasn't done anything outrageously dirty since landing here, but he definitely plays right at the edge and crosses over plenty. Defenses need one or two like him, but just like we hate other teams' I expect them to hate ours. It's nice to actually have other fans/players have a justified reason to ***** about the defense rather than inventing crap.

That's exactly the kind of attitude and violent disposition that you want your MLB to play with. Now if only we could get a talented safety with that same disposition.

 

[bresna]

No fines announced yet? I thought that they hit the media on Wednesday?

 

[Gumby]

here are a few links . . .

Ryan Fitzpatrick Is Right: Brandon Spikes Is A Punk - Buffalo Rumblings

Fitzpatrick calls Spikes a 'punk' after hit - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/sports/football/06stingley.html

. . .

for me the shot by spikes [on jackson] may not have been directly to the head, but it was in the area of the head . . .you can see from the links of jackson and stingly hits that the one who was hit is not in that dissimilar position after the hit, specifically the head pinched up against the shoulder . . .

. . .
if you can not see that than I can not really help you . . .
It is a CRYSTAL clear at the photographs and vidoes in the links . . .

and again i love me some spikes, but call it like it is, Tatum, Pollard, Clark, Harrison or Spikes, when a hit crossess the line it crosses the line . . .

Yehoodi,

What is ALSO crystal clear, IF YOU WATCH VIDEO of the tackle FROM THE EZ camera (EZ bills were driving towards) looking toward the play (and not just Jills-website propaganda) you can CLEARLY SEE Bills # 84 SHOVING SPIKES IN THE BACK and changing his path toward the ball carrier.

So for the Jills to be complaining about a 'cheap shot' which was INDIRECTLY CAUSED by an ILLEGAL BLOCK IN THE BACK by one of their OWN PLAYERS is going into Alice in Wonderland territory.

NOTE: Gee, I just realized re-looking at the still on the game1 hit; #84 is GUESS WHO - Chandler ...... What IRONY.

Additionally Jackson is the one who LOWERED HIS HEAD. So from that aspect any concussion is almost entirely SELF-INFLICTED.

I dont wish injury on guys; and do wish speedy recoveries; but these aren't legit complaints. But of course the rep will take hold and Spikes will get more calls & fines than he deserves because other teams folks like to promulgate without looking at ALL THE VISUAL EVIDENCE. You shouldn't go down that road on our own players though.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

That's exactly the kind of attitude and violent disposition that you want your MLB to play with. Now if only we could get a talented safety with that same disposition.

100% agree, that was what I was trying to convey and failed. I completely understand why other fans/players hate him, but you need a handful of players like him up the middle to make that space feel smaller than it is. Spikes has been a pleasant surprise this season.

 

[Yehoodi]

Yehoodi,

What is ALSO crystal clear, IF YOU WATCH VIDEO of the tackle FROM THE EZ camera (EZ bills were driving towards) looking toward the play (and not just Jills-website propaganda) you can CLEARLY SEE Bills # 84 SHOVING SPIKES IN THE BACK and changing his path toward the ball carrier.

So for the Jills to be complaining about a 'cheap shot' which was INDIRECTLY CAUSED by an ILLEGAL BLOCK IN THE BACK by one of their OWN PLAYERS is going into Alice in Wonderland territory.

NOTE: Gee, I just realized re-looking at the still on the game1 hit; #84 is GUESS WHO - Chandler ...... What IRONY.

Additionally Jackson is the one who LOWERED HIS HEAD. So from that aspect any concussion is almost entirely SELF-INFLICTED.

I dont wish injury on guys; and do wish speedy recoveries; but these aren't legit complaints. But of course the rep will take hold and Spikes will get more calls & fines than he deserves because other teams folks like to promulgate without looking at ALL THE VISUAL EVIDENCE. You shouldn't go down that road on our own players though.

sorry can't agree . . . I call it like it is regardless of the player or team . . . i am fan of the sport and sportsmanship first, then a fan of my team second . . . if something is out of line, it is out of line and I'll call it that way regardless of the color of the jersey . . .

As for your points, I did go back and reviewed the video can not agree with you, much less say that your position is "crystal" clear. Yes the TE placed his hands on the back of Spikes and they went forward, it is unclear as to what effect it had on the play . . .if you look at the game and the replay from the EZ from which the bills are driving from you will see spikes lining up Jackson from about 5 yards away and comes down, ala Harrision, and pops the guy in the head . . .

i don't want to forget the fact that spikes follows through with the hit by extending his elbow into the air . . . furthermore he immediately gets up and does hit lights out/sand man dance, an indication that it was not an accident that the collsion happeneed but intentional and free will act on his part - - - translation, he was not blocked into the guy as spikes would of been more concerned about who block him in the back and looking for flag as opposed taking create for knocking a guy out with his sand man dance . . .

you can slice things any way you want, but actions speak loader than words or opinions and in the immediate aftermath of the play if a guys is doing a sand man dance we both know who he things is the one responsible for the hit and more important the specific manner in which is played out . . . just saying . . .

As for the "lets blame the victim" lowering his head story line, Jackson was bent over before Spikes came in contact with him . . .indeed spikes actually bend down to meet Jackson, well lunged forward, again ala Harrison, and meet him with a shoulder to head/neck/top of shoulder par region, and then following through by extending his arm/elbow after the hit . . .

if the Spikes had been truely blocked into the guy you would see, from the EZ video which is facing spikes, some part of his body jerk/flinch or whatever from the force of the block . . . spikes body does not do this, a strong indication that any singificant force was not applied to his back . . . plus there was no flag . . .

bottom line, when you watch the video again you will see that spikes body does not move after contact by the bills TE . . . the fact there was no movement of his body, no flag, he extends his arm/elbow after the hit, and most important he does his sand man dance makes is crystal clear in my book of who is responsible for spikes lining up Jackson . . .

 

[Gumby]

sorry can't agree . . . I call it like it is regardless of the player or team . . . i am fan of the sport and sportsmanship first, then a fan of my team second . . . if something is out of line, it is out of line and I'll call it that way regardless of the color of the jersey . . .

As for your points, I did go back and reviewed the video can not agree with you, much less say that your position is "crystal" clear. Yes the TE placed his hands on the back of Spikes and they went forward, it is unclear as to what effect it had on the play . . .if you look at the game and the replay from the EZ from which the bills are driving from you will see spikes lining up Jackson from about 5 yards away and comes down, ala Harrision, and pops the guy in the head . . .

i don't want to forget the fact that spikes follows through with the hit by extending his elbow into the air . . . furthermore he immediately gets up and does hit lights out/sand man dance, an indication that it was not an accident that the collsion happeneed but intentional and free will act on his part - - - translation, he was not blocked into the guy as spikes would of been more concerned about who block him in the back and looking for flag as opposed taking create for knocking a guy out with his sand man dance . . .

you can slice things any way you want, but actions speak loader than words or opinions and in the immediate aftermath of the play if a guys is doing a sand man dance we both know who he things is the one responsible for the hit and more important the specific manner in which is played out . . . just saying . . .

As for the "lets blame the victim" lowering his head story line, Jackson was bent over before Spikes came in contact with him . . .indeed spikes actually bend down to meet Jackson, well lunged forward, again ala Harrison, and meet him with a shoulder to head/neck/top of shoulder par region, and then following through by extending his arm/elbow after the hit . . .

if the Spikes had been truely blocked into the guy you would see, from the EZ video which is facing spikes, some part of his body jerk/flinch or whatever from the force of the block . . . spikes body does not do this, a strong indication that any singificant force was not applied to his back . . . plus there was no flag . . .

bottom line, when you watch the video again you will see that spikes body does not move after contact by the bills TE . . . the fact there was no movement of his body, no flag, he extends his arm/elbow after the hit, and most important he does his sand man dance makes is crystal clear in my book of who is responsible for spikes lining up Jackson . . .

Fair enough we take different views EXCEPT for the one point that you are saying looking at the video from 180 degrees opposite from the one I was talking about. So in your EZ video viewpoint spikes own body obscures how hard chandler pushes.
The rest of your argument may make my point invalid - I would have to re-look (cant at moment).

 

[Yehoodi]

Fair enough we take different views EXCEPT for the one point that you are saying looking at the video from 180 degrees opposite from the one I was talking about. So in your EZ video viewpoint spikes own body obscures how hard chandler pushes.
The rest of your argument may make my point invalid - I would have to re-look (cant at moment).

fair enough, btw way did u know where to find the reverse view? . . . I had just checked the NFL.com and my game day tape, and only checked the game tape portion around the incident . . . maybe there is your angle somewhere, maybe the 5th qtr, i'll check . . .

I will say when I first reviewed the game day tape it looks worst from the broadcast booth angle and looks like the TE pushing him (which i missed prior to posting here), especially as he flies forward, so initially i was in agreement with you and your points, but when i saw game day tape from the front angle, i really don't see spikes body or body part move, like if one pushes another from behind, even just a movemet of the shoulder pad or something . . .

it tough to say 100% one way or the other as spikes movement forward, well diving forward does looks like one flies when he gets blocked in the back . . .and maybe your right, but it just seem too much of a coinicdence that his flying forward came in correct place to clock jackson, so too one would think that you would not block an opponent into your runner, and elbow thingie and sand man dance . . .

surely people can celebrate when they weren't totally responsible, but there just seem to be too many things in the direct that he had control of his body . . but i cant say for 100% sure though . . .

 

[Uncle Rico]

Spikes speaks, Via Reiss:

“Everybody has their opinion, and they can think what they want. I’m just doing my job.”


Some view Spikes in a Rodney Harrison-type way in the sense that teammates love to have him on their side, while opponents are sometimes enraged by him.

“I’m a passionate player, I love what I do,” Spikes said, when presented that comparison. “I get a kick out of it. I go to bed thinking about ball, I wake up thinking about ball, so you can see it when I’m playing. My teammates love when I go out and play for them every snap.”

 

[Kontradiction]

Spikes speaks, Via Reiss:

Good boy, Brandon. That's the guy I knew at UF. Good to see he's finally emerged at the NFL level. Now, go blow up Vick Ballard and get us a fumble recovery. DOOOO what must be done, Lord Spikes. DO NOT HESITATE, SHOW NO MERCY!

 

[lurker1965]

Re: Brandon Spikes Hits Fred Jackson and Fitzpatrick in the Head

You understand WHY it was called? Please do explain because Spikes' didn't lead with his helmet, which is the requirement for helmet to helmet hits.

I've heard (but do not totally believe) that for QBs the face-mask counts as part of the helmet and the crown thing is only for "defenseless receivers."

I have also heard (and believe) that refs seeing it real time will ALWAYS fall on the side of player safety. Yeah, that explains the flag, not the fine. If there is a flag 99% of the time the NFL will try like heck to "justify" it anyway they can.

It is because "they" say it is. The Great Goodell hath spoken.

 

[lurker1965]

There were a lot of odd calls in this game. I think these refs were a little wet behind the ears. Some went against us, some went against the Bills.

The Jackson hit shouldn't have drawn any criticism. The hit on Fitz didn't look that bad but I can see why they flagged it. If that had been Brady I'd have expected a flag. There was some holding during one of their TD plays I'd have liked to have seen called. One of the PI calls against them should have been illegal contact. I felt it mostly balanced out despite a few odd calls.

But look on the bright side, at least our game didn't have over a minute ticked off the clock during a ball measurement like in the 49ers game. I bet Harbaugh blew a gasket!

The reffing looked like the replacements. In the first half there were bad calls against the Bills and, like amateurs, the refs made questionable calls on the patriots in the second half to statistically hide their incompetence in the first half.