The Atlanta Falcons’ defense took a major blow on Sunday when safety Keanu Neal went down in the first half with an Achilles injury against the Colts.
Neal, who missed almost all of last season with a torn ACL, knew immediately that he had suffered a serious injury and tossed his helmet out of pain and frustration.
Yet, in one of the worse interpretations of the NFL rules, Alex Kemp’s officiating crew penalized Neal for removing his helmet upon the injury. The 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty set the Colts up with a first down from the four-yard line.
The Colts would score a touchdown two plays later.
Again, that was just an awful, awful call.
According to the NFL rulebook, an unsportsmanlike penalty for removing the helmet is worded as follows:
“Removal of his helmet by a player in the field of play or the end zone during a celebration or demonstration, or during a confrontation with a game official or any other player.”
Neal clearly wasn’t acting in celebration or a confrontation. He was seriously injured. It’s unreasonable for the officials to expect a cool, leveled reaction to a devastating injury.
This was a literal insult to injury and a poor decision all around.
