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Steelers Ryan Mundy causes two Raiders concussions with zero flags

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Steelers Ryan Mundy causes two Raiders concussions with zero flags

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There was some tense moments late in the Raiders week three matchup with the Steelers on Sunday. Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was hit in the head and laid unconscious in the South end zone for several minutes and was eventually placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.

The Raiders were at the 16 yard line and Heyward-Bey went over the middle into double coverage and Palmer through a laser for him to go up and get. That's when Steelers safety Ryan Mundy ran full speed and led with his helmet into DHB's chin. The blow knocked DHB unconscious and he laid on the field not moving.

Despite the seemingly obvious helmet to helmet contact on a defenseless receiver, no flag was thrown from the crew of replacement officials.

Without the lesson learned, Mundy was not done with his head hunting. On the Raiders final drive, on what proved to be one of the biggest catches of the day, tight end Brandon Myers caught a pass for 15 yards and Mundy nailed him at the end of it.

The catch gave the Raiders a first down on a critical third down conversion. Myers left the field and was quickly diagnosed with a concussion from the hit. He will be monitored throughout the week under NFL rules for concussion and have to pass several concussion tests to be cleared to play next week.

There was no flag on he hit to Myers because Myers was not a defenseless receiver.

DHB on the other hand, was defenseless receiver and did not fare anywhere near as well. The Raiders announced that he is in stable condition but will be held in the hospital overnight for observation. Along with the concussion, he also suffered injuries to his neck.

For some perspective, in training camp, Mike Goodson was hit hard and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He was released four hours later and still wore a neck brace for several days as well as missing two preseason games. This injury to DHB is far worse.

Mundy was filling in for the injured Troy Polamalu. The All Pro free safety is known for his hard hits and ball hawking skills. But he is not known for illegal and dirty hits.

Mundy really seems to like laying punishment on the Raiders. He put the hit on Jonnie Lee Higgins a few years back which is seen as the moment Higgins was never the same player. At least then he was flagged for unnecessary roughness on a late hit. He was also fined $10,000 for the hit.

I fully expect the hit he put on DHB to garner a fine and it will be a whole lot more than $10k. As for the flag that was not thrown, it would have been a bigger deal had the Raiders been held out of the endzone. But they kept their composure and Carson Palmer hit Denarius Moore on an out route for a touchdown a few plays later to make the non-call not as big of an issue.

DHB also caught a touchdown on a fade in the second quarter. He beat Ryan Mundy on the play. Looks like Mundy was looking for some retribution.