Andy Dalton was knocked out of the Cowboys 25-3 loss to the Washington Football Team last Sunday by Washington Football Team linebacker Jonathan Bostic.
Bostic, the 29-year old linebacker for WFT, threw himself in Dalton as the quarterback slide before reaching the first down marker. He was ejected shortly after. It was not a clean hit. Quite frankly, it really doesn’t get much dirtier, so many believed that a fine and/or suspension was probably coming Bostic’s way.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the league did not suspend Bostic, and fined him $12,000 for his helmet-to-helmet hit.
“Washington LB Jon Bostic was fined $12,000 for a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit last week on sliding #Cowboys QB Andy Dalton, who suffered a concussion and is out for Sunday night’s game against the #Eagles.”
The punishment seems pretty relaxed for the severity of the blow. Dalton is not playing on Sunday against the Eagles due to having a concussion. Bostic clearly leunched himself into the head of Dalton, but the league appears to be fine with handing down just a fine.
After the game, Rivera revealed that he spoke to Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy to discuss the issue. According to ProFootballTalk, Rivera said he apologized to McCarthy and said that Washington “don’t play like that.”
“Ron Rivera told me that he apologized after the game to Mike McCarthy for Jon Bostic’s hit on Andy Dalton. Rivera also told Bostic, “Jon, you’re a veteran guy; you should know better…….I went up to him and apologized to him for it. I wanted him to know that we don’t play that way, and it’s unfortunate that it happened.”
The hit caught the attention of many around the league. When watching the hit on replay, it was clearly illegal. Dalton gave himself up with a slide after scrambling when the pocket collapsed. Yet, Bostic still chose to throw himself into Dalton’s head.
The reaction around the league was that Bostic needed to be suspended, which included former ESPN morning show host Mike Golic.
“Oh man that hit by Bostic….hope Dalton is OK, but that is the hit that needs to be out of the league,” Golic tweeted.
Dallas will try and take first place of the NFC East, but will try with Ben DiNucci starting at quarterback.