Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu laid a big shot on Lions quarterback Jared Goff during Washington’s pick-six in the Divisional Playoff last Saturday. Luvu got into Goff’s facemask and led with the helmet. No penalty was called on the play. Even FOX’s NFL rules expert Mike Pereira agreed the hit should have been a penalty.
A penalty has now been delivered, but far too late for Lions fans’ liking. A week later, Luvu is now having to pay, literally, for that hit. $16,883 to be exact. The league issued the fine to Luvu Saturday (reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero).
Had a flag been called, the 40-yard return by Quan Martin would have been nullified and the score would have remained 17-14 instead of 24-14. We’ll never know how differently the game would have played out, but this was very much a game-changing play. Washington went on to win, 45-31, eliminating the No. 1 seed Lions.
Of note, this fine was about $7,500 less than the one wide receiver Jameson Williams was hit with for his touchdown celebration just a few minutes after the pick-six. Williams was fined $25,325. Part of that may have been due to that being Williams’ second fine of the season for some sort of gesture during a touchdown, but the fact remains his fine was larger than Luvu’s.
