At first glance it appears to be. Look again, and you'll see it's a clean hit. Knocked him into next week.
It was legal and clean. No helmet to helmet. Didn't launch his body into a defenseless receiver. Put his shoulder into Davis' chest.
He got flagged because refs just do that now out of gut reaction to any violent bang-bang hit, lest they have their hand slapped by the league and it's get-tough-agenda on concussion-producing hits in the NFL.
He drew the flag, and I don't blame the refs. How could they tell? And you can't instant-replay a penalty. So err on the side of caution and try to protect the players.
I'll tell you what though, Chancellor would do that again. He drew a flag, but I guarantee every receiver for the rest of the game was watching their back and running safer routes. And I'll bet a few told Kapernick to watch how far into the middle of the field and out of a zone seam he led them. And every receiver, if they didn't already respect the Hawks secondary (which is ludicrous...they're simply the best in the league by a long margin), now knows there's guys who will crush you legally, and without mercy.
There's no way he's getting fined. There will be an uproar if he does.
If I'm Pete Carroll, I'm very happy with how my secondary played, including that hit, and the team in general. And everyone else in the NFC is real glad too. The niners are banged up now (like the other Harbaugh team in the AFC) and are no longer shoe-ins for the NFC title game. That team that looked indestructible in mid-season certainly looks human now, don't they? And the Hawks are looking very, very good. I hate tapping rookie QBs as being special, but I like Wilson as this year's ROY, just going on regular season alone. But we all know the playoffs will determine which rookie QB gets the nod for being best (Luck vs RGIII vs Wilson). But I really like the Hawk's chances in the playoffs this year, more than I like how the Colts or Skins will match-up. Over the back of the year, Wilson has been stellar. I know Lynch takes a lot of heat off the kid, but he's really got teams guessing...reminds me of the way Big Ben shocked the AFC in his rookie year and how defenses had issues trying to contain a QB who could extend plays outside the pocket but still deliver accurately. Not saying Wilson will have a Ben-like career, but he's got teams really trying hard to figure him out. And that Hawks secondary is sick, sick, sick.
