Matt Ryan Crushed With Clean Hit; Steelers Get Flagged Anyway (Video)

It might be early in the day, but go ahead and credit the Pittsburgh Steelers with the most crushing hit of the day.

During the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons, linebacker Jason Worilds absolutely destroyed Matt Ryan with what appeared to be a perfectly clean tackle.

The hard hit caused Ryan’s head to snap back and hit the turf violently, but because the tackle was so forceful, not because it was a helmet-to-helmet hit. Regardless, Worilds got slapped with a roughing the passer penalty on the play.

For what it’s worth, former vice president of NFL officiating Mike Pereira thought it was the wrong call.

[tweet https://twitter.com/MikePereira/status/544205417580998656 align= ‘center’]

The Falcons scored a touchdown on the same drive, because of course, to cut the Steelers’ lead to six.