Browns Justin Gilbert with brutal pass interference (GIF)
By Mike Marteny
With a pass interference penalty being a spot foul or 15 yards, whichever is greater, in the NFL, you want to get your money’s worth if you are costing your team that much field position. That said, Cleveland Browns cornerback Justin Gilbert may have taken this one just a bit too far.
If you want to hold a guy to keep him from catching a touchdown, that’s fine. Nearly taking his helmet, with head still inside of it, off of someone’s shoulders isn’t just unsportsmanlike. It blurs the line of dirty play. Especially when you do it by the face mask of a player running at full speed.
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Luckily, the Ravens Torrey Smith was not seriously hurt on the play. Perhaps even luckier yet was that Smith or his teammates didn’t come after Gilbert and try to take his head off as well. I have seen fights start over much less!
This penalty was good for 31 yards, but as you see, if Smith had caught this cleanly, it could have been six points. This drive did net a field goal for the Ravens to cut Cleveland’s lead to 21-20 with five minutes left in the game.
Cleveland still leads by that score at the two minute warning. So maybe Gilbert’s interference saved the game. Even if it did nearly break Torrey Smith’s neck.
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