Panthers safety Tre’von Moehrig has been suspended without pay for one game for punching 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings on Monday night, the NFL announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Moehrig punched Jennings in the groin after a play, constituting a clear violation of Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, which the NFL cited as applying to “any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship,” including “throwing a punch, or a forearm, or kicking at an opponent.”
Moehrig’s punch led to a brief altercation after the game ended, with Jennings shoving Moehrig. According to multiple reports, only Moehrig will be suspended, though the NFL will review Jennings’ actions for a fine.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN, Moehrig plans to appeal his suspension. That appeal will be heard by either Derrick Brooks, Ramon Foster, or Jordy Nelson.
In 12 games this season, Moehrig has recorded 81 total tackles with 10 tackles for loss, one sack, and one interception.
Moehrig is currently eligible to return to the Panthers on Monday, Dec. 1, after the team’s Week 13 matchup with the Rams on Sunday.
The NFL has cracked down this season, when it comes to sportsmanship.
Lions safety Brian Branch was suspended for striking Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster after a Week 5 game. Broncos linebacker Drew Greenlaw was suspended for verbally accosting referee Brad Allen after a Week 7 game. Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase was suspended for spitting on Steelers safety Jalen Ramsey during a Week 11 game.
On Monday night, Panthers safety Tre’von Moehrig punched 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings in the crotch after a play with less three minutes to play. After the game, Jennings struck Moehrig, in the same way Branch struck Smith-Schuster.
The league now has a decision to make. Suspend Jennings? Suspend Moehrig? Both? Neither?
Punching a guy in the crotch may not be quite the same level of indignity as spitting on him, but it’s close. If Chase was suspended for a gesture that caused no actual harm, it wouldn’t be a surprise for the league to suspend Moehrig for deliberately throwing a punch to a very sensitive area not protecting by padding. (NFL players don’t wear cups.)
And if Branch was suspended for striking Smith-Schuster after the game ended, it wouldn’t be a surprise for the league to suspend Jennings for striking Moehrig after the game.
Ramsey was not suspended for his reaction to being spit on. (He may not have even been fined.) But that was an immediate reaction. Jennings’s retaliation happened several minutes later.
It won’t be an easy situation for the league to resolve. But if the overriding goal is to send a clear message as to the things that will and won’t be tolerated, the action from Moehrig — and the reaction by Jennings — would seem to fall into the category of actions the league doesn’t want players to ever engage in.
The new kickoff formation introduces a factor that seems to be overlooked, by many. The Panthers seemed to completely disregard it last night.
After the 49ers took a 17-3 lead in the third quarter, the Carolina offense emerged from hibernation. The Panthers drove 68 yards in eight plays, capping it with an impressive 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bryce Young to receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
With the score 17-9, the Panthers could have attempted the analytics-driven move that plenty of teams do after scoring a touchdown when down by 14 points: Go for two. Make it, and the lead is down to six. Miss it, and it’s still a one-score game.
The Panthers opted to kick. It was good. 17-10. But an unnecessary roughness foul on the defense for hitting the snapper in the head/neck area gave the Panthers two options: Move the ball from the two to the one for a two-point try, or kick off from the 50 instead of the 35.
The Panthers didn’t hesitate. They went for two, even though the play they called took no advantage of the shorter proximity to the goal line. They threw a pass into the end zone. If anything, snapping from the one instead of the two packed everyone together more tightly. Basically, the extra yard made no difference to the play. (And, as the attached photo shows, it failed.)
Consider what the Panthers could have done instead. Although a shift in the kickoff spot does not change the configuration of players at or around the landing zone, a kick from the 50 would have allowed the Panthers to kick the ball out of bounds.
By rule (and if the kick had gone out of bounds inside the San Francisco 25), the next 49ers drive would have started 25 yards from the spot of the kick. That would have put the 49ers at the 25, 10 yards behind the new touchback point.
It’s a loophole in the rules that teams should welcome. Put the offense at the 25. Force the 49ers, knowing their lead had been cut to seven, to move the ball — and to not cough up a fourth interception deep in their own end of the field.
The Panthers seemed to not even consider the alternative. It was a knee-jerk “go for two” decision, with the same play they would have run from the two. It’s fair to ask whether teams are even factoring into this decision the quick and easy ability to put the opponent at the 25 after the next kickoff.
It’s an important tweak to the rules that isn’t commonly known or discussed. It wasn’t mentioned during the broadcast. It needs to become mainstream thought if/when a 15-yard penalty happens after a successful one-point try.
Keep the point, and give the ball to the opposing offense at the 25.
Panthers safety Tre’von Moehrig took a punch to the head from 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings after Monday night’s game came to an end and video from earlier in the game showed that Jennings was getting some payback for a Moehrig punch.
Moehrig aimed a lot lower than Jennings and struck the wide receiver in the crotch in the aftermath of a run by 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey late in the fourth quarter. After the game, Moehrig said Jennings “wanted to do his little dirty stuff” throughout the game and that he delivered his blow as a response.
“He was doing some extra stuff after the play, and talking crazy like he was doing something,” Moehrig said, via Mike Kaye of the Charlotte Observer. “So, you know, didn’t think about it — it just happened. I’ll take that one, you what I’m saying? But the next play we got right, you know what I’m saying? So, it is what it is.”
Moehrig said that he expects to be fined by the league, but it doesn’t sound like writing the check is going to lead to much regret on his part.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced 26 modern era semifinalists for election to the Class of 2026 on Tuesday.
Quarterback Drew Brees and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald are two of the five players who have reached this point in the process in their first year of eligibility. Quarterback Philip Rivers, running back Frank Gore, and tight end Jason Witten are the other members of the group that played their final game in 2020.
Offensive tackle Lomas Brown, who retired after the 2002 season, and defensive lineman Kevin Williams, whose last season was 2015, are the other first-time semifinalists.
Four players who were among the seven finalists for election last year were automatically moved to the semifinalist stage this year. They are offensive tackle Willie Anderson, wide receiver Torry Holt, linebacker Luke Kuechly, and kicker Adam Vinatieri.
The other 15 semifinalists also return from last year. They are quarterback Eli Manning; running back Fred Taylor; wide receivers Steve Smith, Hines Ward, and Reggie Wayne; offensive linemen Jahri Evans, Richmond Webb, Steve Wisniewski, and Marshal Yanda; defensive backs Rodney Harrison, Earl Thomas, and Darren Woodson; edge rushers Terrell Suggs and Robert Mathis; and defensive lineman Vince Wilfork.
The Hall of Fame selection committee will pare the group of 25 down to 15 names that will be announced next month. Those 15 players will join three senior candidates, a coaching candidate and a contributor candidate in consideration for election at the selection committee’s meeting next year.
