Falcons’ Damontae Kazee Ejected For Targeting After He Delivered Late, Brutal Helmet-To-Helmet Hit On Cam Newton

During the offseaso the NFL came up with a new college style targeting rule that allowed refs to eject players in an effort to make the game safer and to prevent head injuries.

Rule 12, section 2, Article 8 in the 2018 NFL rulebook, or Rule 12-2-8. Here’s the wording:

ARTICLE 8. USE OF THE HELMET. It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent.

Penalty: Loss of 15 yards. If the foul is by the defense, it is also an automatic first down. The player may be disqualified.

In the second quarter of today’s Falcons-Panthers game, Atlanta safety Damontae Kazee was ejected for targeting when he drilled Cam Newton with a late helmet-to-helmet hit after Newton had already given himself up

Here’s a closer look on the play.

The Internet agreed that Kazee had to be ejected on the play.

https://twitter.com/BrockHatesTwit/status/1041382486352318464

https://twitter.com/jonnyzealander/status/1041383310201692160