Cleveland Browns: Tank Carder’s block ruffled Falcons feathers

Cleveland Browns linebacker Tank Carder made an impression on Atlanta punter Matt Bosher on Thursday night. Will the league fine him for it, though?

While the Cleveland Browns may have come out on the wrong side of the scoreboard in Thursday’s preseason friendly against the Atlanta Falcons, linebacker Tank Carder left a lasting impression.

Carder’s block on Atlanta punter Matt Bosher in the first quarter knocked Bosher out of the game and left Falcons coach Dan Quinn crying to the league office.

“We’d like to ask the league their opinion on if it was a defenseless hit or not,” Quinn said on Friday, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We sent it in. The main thing is Bosher is OK. He’s taken a big hit and he was shaken up but I talked to him today and he’s definitely better. I’m not sure he will be available (to practice) this week. He will be limited.”

Quinn apparently forgot to tell the Falcons to pack their big boy pants for the game, as blocks like the one Carder put on Bosher are common in the AFC North.

The league office apparently agrees as a source reportedly told ESPN that the block was legal. However, another league source reportedly told cleveland.com that the league will see it Quinn’s way and levy a fine on Carder.

It all comes down to whether or not the league determines if Carder’s block was a peel-back block.  According to ESPN:

"The NFL rulebook applies the peel-back rule to blocks below the waist. The blindside block rules applies to contact above the waist and when protecting the head and neck area of a player. Per the rulebook, any blocker who is moving back toward his own goal line cannot go below the waist (peel back rule) or to the head/neck area (blindside block rule). On special teams all blocks by the return team below the waist are prohibited throughout the entire play."

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When you look at the video, Carder did not hit Bosher below the waist or in the head/neck area. He dropped his shoulder into Bosher’s chest, which would appear to make it a legal – if somewhat painful for Bosher – block.

It is interesting to note that, according to the story in the Atlanta paper, that Bosher is “known as an aggressive tackler on punt coverage going back to his college days and has said he takes pride in it.”

If Bosher wants to be in the middle of things on punt returns as an “aggressive tackler,” maybe he should pay closer attention to the guys in the other uniforms looking to stop him.