NFL playoffs: Did Jamal Adams injure John Wolford on a dirty hit?

Jamal Adams sent John Wolford to the locker room, lowering his shoulder into the quarterback’s helmet.

Jared Goff came in to replace Wolford, though the Cal product is coming off of thumb surgery and looks nowhere near ready to see meaningful NFL action. This, of course, is just as frustrating to Goff and Sean McVay as it is for Wolford, but the Rams must now change up their offensive approach to take account for Goff’s limitations.

The hit itself by Adams was initially flagged, until the officiating crew decided otherwise. While Adams didn’t make helmet-to-helmet contact, Wolford was clearly giving himself up on the play, and Adams still opted to lower his shoulder into his opponent’s helmet. It felt unnecessary, and probably should’ve been penalized.

Was Adams’ hit dirty?

The life of a modern day NFL defender is a tough one, in that just about any contact above the shoulders or below the thigh is considered off-limits. Technically, Adams’ hit does not qualify as that, but the issue is more so that he didn’t allow Wolford to slide on his own accord, instead opting to deliver a final blow before the QB made it to the ground.

By definition, Adams did not have to make such a play. So, yes, it’s easy to see how Rams fans consider this a dirty hit. Yet, the former All-Pro wasn’t penalized, and thus the play will be overlooked.