I completely agree with Eric Smith's suspension
The NFL told Jets safety Eric Smith they upheld his suspension for his helmet-to-helmet hit of Anquan Boldin in a Week 4 game against the Cardinals. Smith was also fined $50,000.
I just didn't see that Smith had a case for a reduction in either penalty. It was an awful hit, where Smith lowered his head and launched himself into Boldin.
The argument that Boldin was knocked into Smith by safety Kerry Rhodes simply didn't hold up. In fact, I think there is a reasonable chance that Boldin might have been hurt worse had Rhodes not been there. Smith might have launched himself, helmet first, into Smith's upper chest, which could have caused intense whiplash that might have injured him far more seriously.
I'm a little more worked up about this hit than usual, because there was just no sense to it. I'm sure Smith didn't mean to hurt Boldin. But the tackling technique went against everything that coaches teach players at every level: keep the head up when making the tackle.
Smith lowered his, launched himself and then hit Boldin.
The penalty was just.






