Matthew Stafford was furious after tucking the ball and running in New Orleans and initially it was unclear why. Now we’ve seen the replay and it’s blatant.
That’s defensive tackle Nick Fairley smacking Stafford in the face mask for no reason at all. It came well after the tackle and was completely unnecessary. Fairley didn’t get flagged on the play and the result of the drive was a field goal for the Lions.
It’s not like this smack is exceptionally violent, and maybe Stafford’s reaction is a touch strong — but that doesn’t mean this play was legal. There’s no love lost between these former teammates.