Should Jadeveon Clowney have been flagged for Carson Wentz hit?

Jadeveon Clowney’s hit on Carson Wentz knocked the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback out of the NFC Wild Card game. Should Clowney have been flagged for it?

The Philadelphia Eagles saw their season end on Sunday night, as they lost at home to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Wild Card round. A big reason the Eagles couldn’t get it done at home was starting quarterback Carson Wentz had to leave the game with a concussion sustained on a hit by Seahawks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Should Clowney have been flagged for the hit?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, look at the play where Wentz sustained a concussion and decide if it was dirty enough for Clowney have at least been flagged for the hit (43:48).

Schwartz doesn’t believe Clowney should have been flagged for the hit because he believes at game-speed, he can see how an official might not see the hit from a certain angle and think that it’s worth tossing some laundry on the turf. He says the reason we’re still talking about it is that Wentz had to leave the game with a concussion and the Eagles lost largely because of it.

Verderame agrees with Schwartz in that Clowney didn’t need to be flagged for his hit on Wentz. He too believes that slow-motion made the hit look dirtier than what it was at game-speed. He cited that Wentz was about to slide and Clowney dove and their heads collided. Ultimately, Verderame hated that Wentz got hurt and have to leave this playoff game with a concussion.

Though neither Schwartz or Verderame would say this concussion plays into the Wentz being injury-prone narrative because concussions are different, they believe he needs to play smarter and not put himself in situations where he can, unfortunately, get hurt. Josh McCown played admirably in relief of Wentz, but the Eagles needed their star quarterback to win this one.

Frankly, Philadelphia has every reason to be livid that the officials didn’t throw a flag for Clowney’s hit on Wentz. This is a league where the officials are supposed to look out for a quarterback’s safety. Had Wentz been healthy, it might have been enough to lift the Eagles to an NFC Divisional Round game vs. the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field this weekend.

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Saints shockingly go home on controversial call (4:24)
• Should the NFL change overtime rules? (8:39)
• Does Tom Brady return to the Patriots? (25:19)
• What are we looking forward to this week? (57:10)

All this and more!

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