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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Doug Farrar

Why Thaddeus Moss’ block on Kayvon Thibodeaux wasn’t ‘dirty’ or against the rules

The New York Giants had a hearts-in-their-throats moment in their Sunday night preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals when Bengals tight end (and son of Randy Moss) Thaddeus Moss crossed the formation and executed a low block on first-round edge-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux. The rookie was helped off the field by Giants personnel and returned to the sideline in good spirits. Per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, initial reports indicate that Thibodeaux’s injury is not thought to be as serious as it looked.

Here’s how it looked.

Moss looked to go for Thibodeaux’s ankle, which had a lot of people thinking that this should have been a penalty.

“They dragged the tight end across the formation, and everybody runs this play,” former offensive lineman Brian Baldinger said on the NFL Network. “They seal the backside with the tight end, and almost every tight end goes low. They can’t stay up and take on these defensive ends. They go to cut-block, which is legal, okay? It’s really up to Kayvon here to just drop his shoulder on it, and it went below his shoulder. It’s kind up to Kayvon to protect himself a little better, because that’s how these tight ends are going to block him in this league.”

Former cornerback DeAngelo Hall, on the NFL Network set with Baldinger and Colleen Wolfe, agreed.

“Absolutely, Baldy. That’s one of those sift-back blocks, and… in the NFL, we see it a lot. Maybe in the college game, you don’t see it as much. So, fr Kayvon Thibodeaux, these are some of those reps we talk about. It just gives him that game-time experience. He either has to get lower, or you see those defensive linemen give a little ground with their hands, and push away. That’s going to be a coaching moment for him.”

Other blocking experts agreed — Moss wasn’t trying to be dirty; he blocked the way he had been instructed to.

So, while it looked really bad, and we certainly hope Thibodeaux will be 100%, Moss did nothing wrong by the letter of the rules, and it’s Thibodeaux who will undoubtedly learn from this.

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