In an era in which quarterbacks are given free yards for taking a scratch, other positions continue to get hit, sometimes on cheap shots and don't see anything in return. Sunday's Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars divisional tilt epitomized that.
Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan was trying to move the pile in a Derrick Henry first down. While doing so, Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue popped him on a cheap blindside shot to his left side.
Despite the visibly illegal hit, officials didn't throw a flag. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel is baffled by that, as he wondered, post-game, how they missed it.
“Sure did,” Vrabel said when asked if he saw it, via video from Paul Kuharsky of paulkuharsky.com (h/t PFT). “The only people that didn’t see it were the seven officials out there, so, again, I appreciate [Lewan] keeping his composure, but everybody else saw it except for the guys that could potentially do anything about it.”
Trainers had to walk Lewan off the gridiron as he went to one knee following the hit. Luckily, he was able to finish the game, which would wind up being a blowout of the Jaguars. In all, Tennessee bested Jacksonville to the tune of a 42-20 score, including four third-quarter touchdowns.
After the win, Lewan was seen waving the Jaguars goodbye, likely for a good reason: the offensive line dominated the Jaguars' front-seven. The Titans, behind the efforts of the blocking unit and Henry, rushed for 219 yards and four touchdowns in the blowout.
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