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Adding insult to injury after last week’s 44-22 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker was fined $17,389 for a hit on a defenseless player (wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba).
On second-and-7 from the Cardinals' 34-yard line with 2:52 remaining in the first quarter, quarterback Sam Darnold passed downfield to Smith-Njigba at about the 5-yard line, and Baker hit him high well after the ball was past him. The collision caused Smith-Njigba to land on cornerback Garrett Williams, who left the game with an injury but returned.
Baker tapped his shoulder after the play, believing that’s where he made contact with the receiver. The officials and league office disagreed, flagging the play for a 15-yard penalty and fining Baker.
Smith-Njigba put his hands on his helmet as he went down and was also shaken up on the play, but returned.
After the first down put the ball at the 19-yard line, the Seahawks scored four plays later on a George Holani 9-yard run to take a 21-0 lead.
Meanwhile, the leaguewide trend of players being fined after no penalty was called on the field continued, especially with hip-drop tackle infractions and use of the helmet.
Overall, through 10 weeks, 197 fines have been assessed with 111 (56.3 percent) not being penalized on the field. In Week 10, there were 25 fines and 15 did not result a flag. That included three hip-drop tackle fines and nine for use of the helmet, meaning those two infractions resulted in 48 percent of the fines and 12 of the 15 not penalized.
For the season, there have been fines for 38 uses of the helmet and 19 hip-drop tackles. That total of 57 is 28.9 percent of all fines. None of the hip-drop fines have been penalized and only four of the helmet-use fines drew flags. The 53 plays without a penalty accounted for 47.7 percent of the non-penalized fines.
The first five weeks of the season saw all four of the flags on 14 fines with two by Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams that resulted in fines of $23,186 for the first offense and $46,371 for the second. In the last five weeks, there were no penalties on 24 fines.
Other than the hip-drops and uses of the helmet, the other fines in Week 10 were two for taunting, late hits, striking/kicking/kneeing/tripping and body weight on a quarterback, and one for Baker’s fine, a violent gesture, blindside block, blow to the head or neck of the quarterback and contact with an official.
Minnesota Vikings players were fined four times, bringing their season total to nine. Teams with that many or more are the Dallas Cowboys 15, Washington Commanders 12, and Detroit Lions, N.Y. Jets and Philadelphia Eagles nine.
The NFC East is by far the most fined division with 44, followed by the NFC North 29, AFC East and AFC West 22, NFC West 21, AFC North 20 and NFC South 19.
The 25 fines in Week 10 totaled $338,410 bringing the season total to $2,623,734.
(The no or yes indicates whether a penalty was called)
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Budda Baker fined over $17K for hit on Jaxon Smith-Njigba
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On second-and-7 from the Cardinals' 34-yard line with 2:52 remaining in the first quarter, quarterback Sam Darnold passed downfield to Smith-Njigba at about the 5-yard line, and Baker hit him high well after the ball was past him. The collision caused Smith-Njigba to land on cornerback Garrett Williams, who left the game with an injury but returned.
Baker tapped his shoulder after the play, believing that’s where he made contact with the receiver. The officials and league office disagreed, flagging the play for a 15-yard penalty and fining Baker.
Smith-Njigba put his hands on his helmet as he went down and was also shaken up on the play, but returned.
After the first down put the ball at the 19-yard line, the Seahawks scored four plays later on a George Holani 9-yard run to take a 21-0 lead.
Meanwhile, the leaguewide trend of players being fined after no penalty was called on the field continued, especially with hip-drop tackle infractions and use of the helmet.
Overall, through 10 weeks, 197 fines have been assessed with 111 (56.3 percent) not being penalized on the field. In Week 10, there were 25 fines and 15 did not result a flag. That included three hip-drop tackle fines and nine for use of the helmet, meaning those two infractions resulted in 48 percent of the fines and 12 of the 15 not penalized.
For the season, there have been fines for 38 uses of the helmet and 19 hip-drop tackles. That total of 57 is 28.9 percent of all fines. None of the hip-drop fines have been penalized and only four of the helmet-use fines drew flags. The 53 plays without a penalty accounted for 47.7 percent of the non-penalized fines.
The first five weeks of the season saw all four of the flags on 14 fines with two by Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams that resulted in fines of $23,186 for the first offense and $46,371 for the second. In the last five weeks, there were no penalties on 24 fines.
Other than the hip-drops and uses of the helmet, the other fines in Week 10 were two for taunting, late hits, striking/kicking/kneeing/tripping and body weight on a quarterback, and one for Baker’s fine, a violent gesture, blindside block, blow to the head or neck of the quarterback and contact with an official.
Minnesota Vikings players were fined four times, bringing their season total to nine. Teams with that many or more are the Dallas Cowboys 15, Washington Commanders 12, and Detroit Lions, N.Y. Jets and Philadelphia Eagles nine.
The NFC East is by far the most fined division with 44, followed by the NFC North 29, AFC East and AFC West 22, NFC West 21, AFC North 20 and NFC South 19.
The 25 fines in Week 10 totaled $338,410 bringing the season total to $2,623,734.
NFL Week 10 fines by team
(The no or yes indicates whether a penalty was called)
- 49ers LB Tatum Bethune, use of helmet ($5,446, no)
- 49ers LB Tatum Bethune, late hit ($5,447, yes)
- Bears DE Austin Booker, use of helmet ($5,818, no)
- Bears S Kevin Byard III, use of helmet ($23,186, no)
- Browns CB Myles Harden, used of helmet ($5,487, no)
- Browns DT Adin Huntington, late hit ($4,704, yes)
- Cardinals S Budda Baker, hit on defenseless player ($17,389, yes)
- Commanders LB Ale Kaho, use of helmet ($46,371, no; Kaho was injured on the play)
- Commanders DT Javon Kinlaw, contact with official ($28,555, yes)
- Falcons S Jessie Bates III, taunting ($11,593, yes)
- Falcons S Ronnie Harrison Jr., violent gesture ($6,972, no)
- Giants LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, use of helmet ($7,292, no; Flannigan-Fowles was injured on the play)
- Jaguars DE Travon Walker, body weight on QB ($17,389, yes)
- Jets S Malachi Moore, use of helmet ($5,914, no)
- Jets CB Brandon Stephens, use of helmet ($22,388, no)
- Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, striking/kicking/kneeing/tripping ($12,172, no)
- Packers DE Micah Parsons, striking/kicking/kneeing/tripping ($12,172, no)
- Raiders RB Dylan Laube, blindside block ($5,549, yes)
- Saints S Justin Reid, blow to head/neck of QB ($17,389, yes)
- Steelers LB Nick Herbig, hip-drop tackle ($6,656, no)
- Texans CB Kamari Lassiter, taunting ($11,382, yes)
- Vikings CB Fabian Moreau, use of helmet ($6,972, no)
- Vikings CB Isaiah Rodgers, hip-drop tackle ($17,389, no)
- Vikings OLB Dallas Turner, body weight on QB ($17,389, yes)
- Vikings OLB Dallas Turner, hip-drop tackle ($17,389, no)
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Budda Baker fined over $17K for hit on Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Continue reading...
