When a yellow flag landed it was immediately clear what the call was going to be. It was also immediately clear that it was going to be the wrong call.
“We all know what the flag’s gonna be, and if they call it a hit to the head/neck area, they’re wrong.”
—Chris Spielman, being correct
— The Lions Wire (@thelionswire) December 10, 2017
Detroit Lions defensive back Quandre Diggs had just leveled Tampa Bay’s O.J. Howard, causing a fumble that was recovered by Detroit’s Glover Quin. As broadcaster Ronde Barber predicted,1 Diggs was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play, his hit deemed a shot to the head of a defenseless receiver. As Barber also noted, this was the wrong call, mainly because the receiver wasn’t defenseless (per NFL rules) and because Diggs didn’t hit him in the head.