There’s no room in the game of football for this. As we saw with Aaron Rodgers earlier on Sunday, quarterbacks are already vulnerable to injury. It doesn’t help matters much when defensive players go with the dirty hit.
That’s exactly what happened when Pittsburgh Steelers safety Mike Mitchell laid a hit on Alex Smith late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game.
With his team dominating and up 12-3, Mitchell decided it made sense to go for Smith’s knee. The play itself was about as ugly as it gets. And in reality, Smith is lucky he didn’t suffer a serious injury.
That's about as dirty as it gets, Mike Mitchell. pic.twitter.com/piPXole7hS
— Dan Hanzus (@DanHanzus) October 15, 2017
Mitchell was flagged for a personal foul on the play. But it didn’t come back to haunt Pittsburgh as the Chiefs inexplicably went for it on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal to pull within six.
Either way, we’re pretty sure Mitchell will be hearing from the league in the form of either a suspension or fine. Based on the play itself, maybe it should be the former. Mitchell has a history of dirty play, something that will definitely be taken into account when the NFL reviews this penalty.