No Flag, But Fine

On Wednesday, Tom Coughlin complained that tough tight end Kevin Boss has now taken two helmet-to-helmet hits with nary a flag being thrown. And it's true. There was nothing yellow on the field, except maybe those canaries Boss saw circling his head as he wobbled off the field against Arizona and San Diego.

Proof of that second hit came today, when the NFL fined Chargers safety Eric Weddle $7,500 for the smack.

By the way, Boss completed that pass, as he did when the Cardinals' Antrel Rolle leveled him two games before that.

Not that the fine evened out anything. That was the only payout the Chargers had, as opposed to three for the Giants. Ahmad Bradshaw got socked for $5,000 for a chop block, Dockery five grand for running into the punt returner (he deserved at least that much just for stupidity in field awareness), and rookie LB Clint Sintim got a nickle for a late hit on Philip Rivers.

The Giants' fines are deserved under the league rules. But these hits on Boss are the real puzzlers. Neither one drew a flag, yet both were obvious enough that somebody should have pulled something from his pocket. The refs need to keep a closer eye on those middle routes, because it seems Boss is becoming a real magnet. If it keeps up, this stuff could have serious consequences.

EP