The NFL has once again cracked down on a Chicago Bears defender for an illegal tackle method and will be taking some money back out of that player's pocket coming out of the bye week.
Bears defensive tackle Chris Williams was fined $5,472 for a hip-drop tackle against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London in Week 6.
The play took place early in the fourth quarter of the game where Williams sacked Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence for a loss of 10-yards on 2nd-and-3.
Williams was not flagged on the play, but after reviewing the tape, the league determined it was worth cracking down on. On the following play, Lawrence was intercepted by defensive back Josh Blackwell on third down, stopping the Jaguars drive in it's tracks.
This is already the second time this season in which a Bears player was fined for a hip-drop tackle that went uncalled by the officials during the game itself. The first was against linebacker T.J. Edwards, who was fined $16,883 in Week 2 for a tackle that injured Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon.
The NFL is clearly trying hard to crack down on eliminating these types of tackles been made on the field that could potentially take players off the field. However, it's hard for the players to really learn until the officials start calling these penalties as well. This week alone, the NFL fined four different players for hip-drop tackles.
Back in March, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was in favor of eliminating hip-drop tackles from the game, a strong stance from a defensive minded head coach.
"I think it’s a really good rule because I don’t want to lose offensive players because of that technique," Eberflus explained. "I think it’s a really good way to put it on the books to make sure we get that tackle out of the game”
Back in November of the 2023 season, Eberflus noted he teaches his players to be a "low tackling group" and what they're doing looks right as long as they keep the offensive players from falling forward.
Clearly, some players around the league need to do a better job of that, including some of his own players, or else they'll have more money coming out of their pockets.
