Is Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Calijah Kancey to blame for a late hit on Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell, or have we all just gone soft?
The debate matters little to O’Connell, who left the match with a potentially serious knee injury, but for fans on X it proved quite divisive.
“What didn’t they call that?” one fan asked.
“That wasn’t a hit,” another responded. ‘That was a push in the right direction.’
O’Connell was carted off the field after being pushed to the ground by Kancey following a pass late in the third quarter in the Bucs’ 28-13 victory on Sunday.
The quarterback, in his second game back after being sidelined for nearly six weeks with a broken thumb, was left on the ground after an 8-yard third-down completion to Jakobi Meyers. Kancey chased O’Connell out of the pocket toward the Bucs sideline and shoved him from behind after the ball was released.
O’Connell is carted off the field in the third quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
O’Connell was carted off the field after being pushed to the ground following a pass in the third quarter
Kancey, who was not penalized for a late goal, did discuss the situation with reporters.
“Prayers for him. I pray for a speedy recovery,” Kancey said. ‘I hope all is well on their side. I definitely got down on my knees and prayed for him.”
CBS Sports rules analyst and former NFL official Gene Steratore said Kancey should have been flagged for unnecessary roughness.
As for O’Connell, embattled Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said the injury “doesn’t look good.”
The Raiders have lost an NFL-high nine games in a row, but the battle in Las Vegas took a back seat to the subject of the goal itself.
‘If that had been the case [Patrick] Mahomes guy would have been kicked out of the league!’ wrote one X user in reference to the league’s perceived preference for the Kansas City Chiefs star.
“This wasn’t that gross,” another fan commented. ‘Soft.’
An eagle-eyed observer noted that the push itself caused no injury to O’Connell, but that it could have happened earlier as he tried to regain his balance.
“Looks like he hurt his knee planting after the push,” the X user wrote.
And yet, another keen eye noticed a potentially revealing response from Buccaneers players: “You don’t know until late when everyone in the shot is looking at the referee for the flag.”