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Harrison...talented but cheap and has a weird idea of what it is to be a man.

Neil,

I take issue with several of your inflammatory and arguably inaccurate statements. I suppose it only makes sense that is an opinion based blog and not factually accountable journalism. Strange that your own "house rules" state that comments may be flagged or removed if they:

Are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others

And yet in this very article you antagonistically mention the very personal problems Harrison had with his wife. Furthermore, you connect that to the way he plays football. I've been working hard to protect this guy against many writers who are taking their own "cheap shots" at him in press or print. Do you know Mr. Harrison's personal history and how hard he has worked at getting into the league? Do you know how many setbacks he has overcome? There are scores of articles that label this man a thug or an animal. Yet, he plays the kind of hard hitting football that has, in the past, earned him enough praise from the league to be Defensive Player of the Year. You state that each and every one of his fines has been deserved. I flatly disagree and see very clear evidence that he has been made a patsy this season. As far as his comments about White House visits, I admire the courage of a man who states his opinion firmly and fairly. Perhaps he doesn't always find the most poetic prose for stating his opinions but what I took away from those statements were the idea that he was unimpressed with either President simply supporting a winning team as a fairweather fan. I'd love to see a head of state *not* pander and just be a lifelong fan of a team and freely admit their support in good times or bad.

In closing, your personal history states that you've played a bit of football yourself. Perhaps a padded up meet and greet can be arranged between you and Mr. Harrison so you can run a few plays against him? You're attacking a man outside of his normal workplace, he should at least be able to return the favor.

Saints-Ravens should be a really good game; for me, it's Ray Rice v Drew Brees. If the Ravens can get a big game out of Rice, that'll keep Brees off the field and give themselves a chance. But I lean Saints at the moment, their offensive is coming together and the problems the Ravens secondary had against Houston were not new ones.

Jets-Steelers will be interesting in terms of seeing if either offense can get it going. The Steelers don't have a whole lot to boast about the last three weeks, but Big Ben is clearly giving them more than Sanchez is the Jets.

Must ask though - I know last week was the Patriots thread - how good was Tom Brady last Sunday? It's easy to get carried away with these things, but in those conditions, against that defense... that was as good as it gets.

MistaRuddy

As you say personal opinion, also I don't see as an attack mentioning Harrisons wife, thats just a generic english phrase. I also don't think all the hits have been illegal (cribbs for starters) or the fines merited, especially if you look at the raiders/steelers game and the smack to rothlesburger, certainly deserved more of a fine.

Iam quite new to American football and was wondering who is the best team in the NFL at the minute?

Neil, This blog post is about 4 weeks too late!! What happened to up to date journalism?

As a young guy trying to break through into sports journalism, primarily through an excellent NFL knowledge, it's kind of annoying that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is paying you for these out of date comments about player safety, and especially Harrison.

You can see my NFL opinions etc on my blog: www.tdonsport.blogspot.com

Or come discuss your NFL thoughts at www.nfloutofhours.co.uk, a forum for fans to have a good humoured NFL Debate.

Frostbag, the best team in the NFL atm is the New England Patriots.

Hello Neil,
Can you explain how the (most entertaining team in NFL) New Orleans Saints with the 4th best overall record may end up missing out on the play-offs? Surely this cannot happen?
I tried to get the locals to explain, to myself a recent Brit abroad to Louisiana, however it went over my head in much the same way as relegation concept went over theirs.

PS the atmosphere in the Superdome is brilliant, especially when taking apart other teams. Almost as good as SPL football ;-)

I agree that Harrison and others should be fined for diving into a tackle and spearing with the helmet. However, Harrison got fined two weeks ago for what the ref called "leading with the crown of the helmet". Replays from about 14 different angles showed that his face mask came to the chest of the QB as his arms wrapped him up. Harrison was vertical at the time of impact. The height difference (he was shorter than the QB) rendered the "forhead area" of his helmet to be under the chin strap of the QB's. That's football. What they really fined him for was being shorter than the QB. Ridiculous, yes, he's being singled out.

The ludicrous (and inaccurate) point about the Jets "in 13 outings this season [having] only once beaten a team that currently boasts a winning record" should not be in the article.

For one thing, 8 of their games came against teams without winning records and therefore offered no opportunity to improve that statistic and for another, they have two wins, beating the 7-6 Dolphins in Week 3, and four defeats (BAL, GB, @NE, MIA).

They are also the only team amongst the 8-, 9- and 10-win pack to have no let-down losses against losing or .500 teams.

Seems to be pile-on-the-Jets season in the media though, so I can understand how this made its way into the article.

K4,

Easy, The AFC and NFC has 4 divisions. Top team from each division is in the play-offs. Then the two teams with the best records from all those 4 divisions of both the NFC and AFC will be in as "wild cards".

New Orleans are in the same division as Atlanta who currently have the best record in the NFC at 11 and 2.

New Orleans has 10 wins which although better than anybody else in the NFC only gives them a wild card berth at this time as they're in the same division as Atlanta.

There's talk of changing it but not this year.

St. Louis and Seattle are tied (with 6 and 7 losing records) for the lead in the NFC West!

"But I would argue he has deserved every one of his fines to date..."

Oh right? Including this vicious assault on Drew Brees?



Don't make me laugh...

It's pretty simple. The NFL have stated that they will not tolerate "tackles" that are helmet to helmet. Anyone flaunting this rule runs the risk of penalty and subsequent fine. Harrison may have, in the past, been rewarded or acclaimed for such play, but it is clear that times have changed and if he wants to be part of today's game, he must change too.
As an ex-rugby player, I have to question the NFL description of tackling, which in many cases consists purely of a defender launching himself at his opponent, with no attempt to grasp with the arms. This kind of tackling almost naturally leads to head first contact.

GunnerToby - why don't you work a bit harder and stop insulting people who have clearly worked hard to get where they are in that case? Linking to a childish NFL forum won't get you anywhere. Also, have you noticed that the Jets are playing the Steelers this weekend on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio? And that both teams are covered in the blog?

It's intensely irritating that Neil gives the NFL some exposure in the UK yet people still come on here to moan. This blog clearly isn't just aimed at big NFL fans. If you're looking to get into journalism, you need to consider your target audience when you write.

K4 - totally agree. Horrible to think that the 49ers have a legit chance of making the playoffs!

Re:12
I should also add that any kind of contact, either with the helmet or to the helmet of the quarterback, whilst he is still in the pocket, is also severely frowned upon. Unless, of course, the quarterback is Michael Vick or Ben Roethlisberger...

Packersftw,

They are both playing yes. Well done. Why not discuss something about the game that's a bit more accurate and current. Such as the Pittsburgh OL struggles, resulting in Roethlisberger racking up injuries and the O playing poorly. Or the fact that the D is lead by Polamalu, as evidenced by their terrible play on D last year when he was out.

Why can i not make a statement about this article being off the mark and not quite on the right track? Are ´óÏó´«Ã½ guys not open to criticism?

Also, don't see how linking a friendly forum has anything to do with my desire to do this job.

But anyway, each to their own. I expect a close Steelers win, around the 17-14 mark. Will be a good game (is on sky for those wanting to watch)

Personally the demise of the Jets and the mess created by the tripping scandal and Sal Alosi is a far more interesting topic. Paritcularly at this time of year when we have two playoff bound teams with sputtering offences.

I'm not a fan of Harrision but have admiration for the amount of setbacks he's come through to become one of the top defensive players in the NFL.

I agree with many replies to this blog that he hasn't deserved all of his fines but the league has started fining players for hits that have been dangerous but are strictly legal. It's something that the competition committee will have to evaluate but someone like Harrison will always be lower than the player he's tackling and his fantastic technique will put him in a position where his helmet will be hitting the offense player's chin.

This is the NFL with some of the fastest atheletes in the world and the collision speeds can be around 30 mph; it will always be dangerous. Harrison is a victim of the system because of his height and the way he was taught to tackle. He's not innocent by any means but the NFL's definition of dangerous tackles and fineable tackles is still ambiguous at this point.

Been up all night watching the disaster in Perth. It's going about as well as the 49ers were tonight!

The players are victims of a sudden and severe policy change from the NFL. All of a sudden they're heavily promoting player safety, which is admirable. But it's been installed at various points through out the season, what is legal and what isn't has changed during the season. Making it impossible for players to keep up.

Harrison, and all of the Steelers D, plays on the very edge of what is allowed, it's what has made them such a dominating defense through out the franchise history. It's in the DNA of the ball club. Now this means, from time to they'll do something that crosses the line. But Harrison has been targeted.

His hit on Cribbs looked nasty, but when you dissect that play it's clear what happens. Cribbs gets wrapped up by James Farrior just before Harrison comes in from the side. This results in Cribbs lowering his body as he tries to pull out of the tackle and slowing down. This puts his head into the line Harrison is coming on. A tackle that would have been flush in the chest without the play by Farrior ends up on the side of the head and it looks horrible. There's no intent in it, and no malice at all.

Harrison didn't do himself any favours with the "i just want to put them to sleep" comment, but he's no PR expert, he's a Linebacker who's been taught that it's good to hit hard and hurt the opponent.

Hopefully the whole area of Helmet-to-Helmet hits will be cleared up in the off season and stop things such as the Austin Collie collision against Philly resulting in flags and fines that have every NFL fan I know ranting at the TV saying "That's football, injuries happen".

Rant over, just like the England innings... Mitchell Johnson was amazing.

Cheers Gunner Toby, are the Steelers in a Playoff Atm?

@GunnerToby

Do you really think a non-NFL fan is going to read a blog about the Steelers OL struggles? Think of the target audience.

You can criticise whoever you like, but think before you type. 1) The ´óÏó´«Ã½ have Jets v Steelers live this week and 2) Harrison is an interesting topic for non-NFL fans as well as NFL fans.

It's irritating that some 'hardcore' NFL fans can't understand the simple aim of this blog. I want more people to enjoy this great sport, and Neil's blog is doing a great job of bringing us interest.

Appreciate the comment Neil. Is actually rare that a writer responds to comments, so thank you.

I understand the brief and appreciate you trying to bring more people to the sport.

If you've got the time i'd like to hear your views on the potential lock out that's coming and how it might affect the game.

Fining a millionaire a few thousand dollars is ridiculous. They should suspend such people for 3 or 4 games. Do we have to wait until gets paralysed ?