Yea whatever. Any other receiver or the same catches against any other team would have happened the same way. Russell Wilson lofting passes up left Harvin out to dry, if anyone is to blame its him.
Yeah, whatever. You need to
watch the plays again. The Saint defender on the flagged hit:
(a) did not make a play on the ball
(b) lowered his head and hit with the crown of his helmet
(c) tucked his arms and left his feet
(d) targeted and hit Harvin's head
(e) did not even challenge the flag (i.e. he knew it was a penalty) and he and his coaches/teammates were high fiving.
It is absolutely classless to break the rules, rules in place to protect players short and long term health, and celebrate hurting another player.
This would be no different from a pass rusher deliberately going low on Manning with an immediate flag thrown, and after seeing Manning go down in pain, hopping up and down celebrating your cheap shot.
The second hit was a forearm shiver that due to how they fell resulted in the forearm pinning Harvin's neck and head against the turf when they went down. This is one of those gray areas as the rule is you cannot strike the head or neck; probably not deserving of a penalty but seeing as Kam has been penalized a number of times for hard, front on hits with never hitting the head or neck I am surprised they didn't call it.
The link also has the face mask against Baldwin where, after the defender knew he was beat, ripped of his helmet. Hence it flew. That should have been 15 yards. Ditto the horse collar on Wilson.
I support the Saints playing tough, hard nosed playoff football. But hitting defenseless receivers in the head, vicious face masks, hitting QBs low, etc. is not "tough" football but "cheap" football. You cross the line from tough football to cheap when the play is illegal and is illegal because it can lead to player injury.
RE: Wilson. I noted earlier in this thread Wilson made the mistake of not looking off the Safety. It is Wilson's fault Harvin was put in a position to get blasted. It was the Saint DB's fault he led with his head and aimed at Harvin's head--a big hit did not require such. It was tasteless from a classless players and coaches to celebrate it and it makes the entire Saint organization look bad after bountygate where coaches and players intentionally tried to injure competitors.
Ps- Look at the first Harvin play again. Clear PI by the textbook. Harvin's arm is clearly being pulled back before the ball even got there. For all the whining about Seattle's DBs bumping and clutching it isn't like it is a oneway street.