For those of who who think NFL players and coaches take fines for illegal hits seriously, John Harbaugh provided a perfect example for the contrary on Monday. You might remember the pictures of Ben Roethlisberger’s nasty broken nose we featured about a month ago. Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata ended up paying a $15,000 fine for the shot to Big Ben’s head that rearranged his face, but that doesn’t mean John Harbaugh is asking his players to be more cautious this time around.
“He’s a tough guy,” Harbaugh said according to Pro Football Talk. “He had the broken nose. I was glad we broke his nose and then I was very impressed that he played through it. Obviously, you can throw very effectively with a broken nose – he proved that.”
Harbaugh then went on to say his team is going to “try to get after him like we always do.” He knows the hit was illegal, and he’s going about it the way a coach should. Everyone knows teams are willing to pay the fine for a player if it means setting the tone in a game, as long as it’s nothing too dirty or over-the-top. I’m sure Roethlisberger understands that and is in no way offended.
As a side note, what a special treat we’re getting with the Ravens playing the Steelers and the Jets playing the Patriots in the divisional round this weekend. The teams in both match-ups hate each other and are meeting for the third time this season after splitting their regular season series. We should be in for one of the hardest-hitting weekends of playoff football you can ask for.
